Sunday, November 19

DIVINE INDIA INFRASTRUCTURE PVT LTD STILL CHARGING GST ON MAINTENANCE DESPITE BEING EXEMPT

LEFT IN LURCH  - RESIDENTS OF DIVINE MEADOWS PAYING 18% GST ON MAINTENANCE AND ELECTRICITY  


Residents of DIVINE MEADOWS a project of Divine India Infrastructure in SECTOR 108 NOIDA are being charged 18% GST on their maintenance and electricity bills. They have approached the builder on numerous occasions after a notification which says that GST is exempt for maintenance bills less than 5000 but their requests have gone into the deaf ears. The builder has clearly said that he would continue to charge 18% GST. Hence the residents are feeling helpless and are forced to pay the GST in order to get the uninterrupted services. The monthly maintenance charges in Divine Meadows range from Rs 1500 to 3000 rupees a month.
As per the Goods and Services Tax law, maintenance charges upto Rs 5000 a month are exempt from GST. Although the Finance Ministry has issued a clarification, this arbitrary calculation of GST done by the builder has left home owners of Divine Meadows confused.
The residents are worried as they have no clue where to go and to whom they should raise this issue. They wanted clear guidelines regarding GST on maintenance bills but are confused whom to approach

According to Divine India if a builder or its appointed company is taking care of the maintenance of the project then they have to charge GST irrespective of the amount

The notification has the following language

As per guidelines on maintenance charges upto Rs. 5000/- no GST is applicable. Maintenance charges means only maintenance or collection of all charges

This is applicable to only the reimbursements of charges or share of up to an amount of five thousand rupees per month per member for sourcing of goods or services from a third person for the common use of its members. Here, charges mean the indivisual contributions made by members of the society to avail services or goods by the society from a third party for common use. [*Entry 77(c) of notification no 12/2017 Central Tax (Rate) dated 28.6.2017 refers]

Monthly maintenance (all above charges) are below Rs.5000/-but yearly total collection exceeds Rs. 20 lakhs limit whether GST is applicable

Reimbursement of charges or share of contribution up to an amount of Rs. 5000/- per month per member for sourcing of goods or services from a third person for the common use is not liable to GST. However, if the Cooperative society/ RWAs provide specific services of its own to its members or to any third party (e.g. use of community hall for social function by a non-member) cumulatively exceeds the threshold limit as per GST, then GST is leviable on such supply of services.

“We need clarity from the GST Council or Ministry of Finance regarding GST ON MAINTENANCE” said a resident
“The builder is also charging GST on electricity bills and as per our understanding he is only supposed to charge GST on power backup but we have no clarity as yet” said another resident of same society

There are other societies in NOIDA and Greater Noida where the residents have raised the same issue of GST on maintenance and electricity bills but everyone is confused and there are no proper guidelines from the government. The confusion regarding GST rates remains unresolved. 
When we explored the official GST websites the following email IDs were found where we can raise the issues 

When we wrote to them the following automated message was received. The residents can try raising webtickets and see if they get any help
Thank you for writing to us at CBEC Mitra Helpdesk.
We received your support request, and we understand that you want to know the steps for reporting any instance of tax evasion or fraud to the concerned authority.
To go to the specific information webpage, please follow the steps listed below:
1. Go to the CBEC-GST website at www.cbec-gst.gov.in.
2. On the homepage, click Raise a Webticket at the bottom of the screen.
3. On the left pane, select Report Tax Fraud / Avoidance.
4. Fill all fields on this form, and then click Submit.
Note: To report any tax evasion or fraudulent activity, you can also click the link: https://www.cbec-gst.gov.in/report-tax-fraud.html.
If you have any information regarding Central Excise fraud or evasion, you can also call on 011-26174191 or email to add-dgcei@nic.in.
Thanks and Regards,


No comments: