12% GST Payable On Accommodation Building Located Outside The Boundary Of The Religious Place: AAR

The Ahmedabad Bench of the Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) has ruled that GST is payable on accommodation buildings located outside the boundary of the religious place.

The bench of Amit Kumar Mishra and Milind Kavatkar has observed that Nandini Ashram Trust is liable for GST registration in terms of Section 22 of the CGST Act, 2017, subject, however, to the threshold limit of his aggregate turnover exceeding Rs. 20 lakhs.

The applicant, Nandini Ashram Trust, is engaged in providing a wide range of professional consulting services, viz., architecture, engineering (MEPF), planning, urban design, landscape, sustainability, research and art, building design, interior design, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics.

The applicant is a registered trust under the Bombay Charitable Trust Act. They also hold a 12AA certificate issued by the Income Tax Authorities. In terms of the trust deed, the applicant provides accommodation to pilgrims who visit the Ambaji Temple. The applicant further states that their room rent is Rs. 1000 per day.

The applicant sought an advance ruling in respect of the issue of whether it is liable for GST registration and whether it is liable to pay GST.

The AAR held that the applicant was liable for GST registration and that 12% GST was leviable on the rooms of Nandini Ashram, which they were renting to pilgrims in the precincts of the Ambaji Temple and which were not within the boundary of the temple.

Applicant’s Name: Nandini Ashram Trust

Date: 26.04.2023

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