The West Bengal Authority of Advance Ruling (AAR) ruled that in regard to security services the GST is payable on complete billing amount and not only the management charges. Further GST will also be applicable on the employer portion of Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees’ State Insurance (ESl) amount.
Facts of the Case:
- The applicant, Ex-servicemen Resettlement Society is a registered society providing security services and scavenging services (Karma Bandhus) to different Medical Colleges & Hospitals, District Hospitals, and other hospitals of the Government of West Bengal.
- As per labor laws of the Government of West Bengal, the applicant claims Minimum Wage + Employer Portion of 13% EPF plus 3.25% ESI and charges tax at the rate of 18% leviable under the GST Act on gross bill amount in every month for providing security & Karma Bandhus (Scavenging) services to the Government Hospitals.
- However, the Audit Authority (Indian Audit and Accounts Department, West Bengal) in course of audit of Bankura Sammilani Medical College &. Hospital has raised the objection of excess payment of GST upon the observation that `GST’ to be payable only on Management Fees/Services Charges.
Issue on which ruling was sought:
The applicant has sought the advance ruling on the issues of whether GST to be payable on Management Fee/Administrative charges only or otherwise complete billing amount and whether employer portion of EPF and ESl amount of the bill are exempted for paying GST.
Order of WB AAR: Deliberation and Ruling:
- AAR noted that it transpires from Section 15 of the CGST Act that while sub-section (2) of section 15 clearly specifies the elements that will form a part of value of supply, sub-section (3) of section 15 excludes the elements that are not to be included in the value of supply.
- AAR adjudged that the aforesaid provisions of the Act leave no room to deduct any amount like management fee, employer portion of EPF and ESI for the purpose of determination of value of supply under section 15 of the GST Act meaning thereby in the instant case, tax is leviable under section 9 of the Act ibid on the entire billing amount.
In view of above deliberations, the coram of members Brajesh Kumar Singh and Joyjit Banik ruled that GST is payable on total value of supply and not on Management Fee/Administrative charges only. It was further ruled that employer portion of EPF & ESl amount of the bill are not exempted for paying GST.
Relevant Statutory provisions
Section 15 of the CGST Act
“15. (1) The value of a supply of goods or services or both shall be the transaction value,
which is the price actually paid or payable for the said supply of goods or services or both
where the supplier and the recipient of the supply are not related and the price is the sole
consideration for the supply.
(2) The value of supply shall include—
(a) any taxes, duties, cesses, fees and charges levied under any law for the time being in force other than this Act, the State Goods and Services Tax Act, the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act and the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act, if charged separately by the supplier;
(b) any amount that the supplier is liable to pay in relation to such supply but which has been incurred by the recipient of the supply and not included in the price actually paid or payable for the goods or services or both;
(c) incidental expenses, including commission and packing, charged by the supplier to the recipient of a supply and any amount charged for anything done by the supplier in respect of the supply of goods or services or both at the time of, or before delivery of goods or supply of services;
(d) interest or late fee or penalty for delayed payment of any consideration for any supply; and
(e) subsidies directly linked to the price excluding subsidies provided by the Central Government and State Governments.
Explanation.—For the purposes of this sub-section, the amount of subsidy shall be included in the value of supply of the supplier who receives the subsidy.
(3) The value of the supply shall not include any discount which is given—
(a) before or at the time of the supply if such discount has been duly recorded in the invoice issued in respect of such supply; and
(b) after the supply has been effected, if—
(i) such discount is established in terms of an agreement entered into at or before the time of such supply and specifically linked to relevant invoices; and
(ii) input tax credit as is attributable to the discount on the basis of document issued by the supplier has been reversed by the recipient of the supply.”
READ / DOWNLOAD ORDER:
West_Bengal_AAR CMT***
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Frah Saeed is a law graduate specializing in the core field of indirect taxes and is the Co-founder of taxwallah.com. She has authored many publications on GST and is into full-time consultancy on GST to big corporates. She as a part of taxwallah.com heads a team comprising of Chartered Accountants and Advocates and plays a key role in our mission to disseminate GST knowledge to all.
