GST Council Exempts Hostel Fees, Platform Tickets, and More from Tax
New Delhi, 23rd June 2024: The GST Council announced on Saturday a series of exemptions and reforms aimed at simplifying the tax regime and preventing fraud.
Key decisions include the exemption of hostel fees, platform tickets, railway waiting room charges, and golf cart fees from the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Additionally, employee stock options will also be exempt from GST.
While hostels operated by educational institutions were previously exempt, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that the exemption will now extend to all hostels. To qualify, the monthly charges must be under Rs 20,000 per person, and the occupant must stay for at least 90 days. This change is expected to benefit thousands of students and working professionals residing in paying guest accommodations.
The council also introduced reforms to curb fraud by bogus entities, including a reworked system for tax regime registration.
Further relief measures were announced for corporate guarantees and reinsurance, with specific clarifications provided to streamline processes. E-commerce players will also benefit from the reduction in the tax collected at source on net taxable supplies, which has been halved to 0.5%.
These decisions by the GST Council aim to ease the tax burden on individuals and businesses while enhancing the efficiency and transparency of the tax system. For further details, stakeholders are encouraged to review the official announcements and guidelines provided by the GST Council.
