GST ON AFFORDABLE HOUSES AND REAL ESTATES AS PER THE
DECISIONS OF GST COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 19.3.2019
The
Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 came into force with effect from 1.7.2017 in
India.
The
GST Council in its meeting held on 19.3.2019 taken the following decisions as
per Press Release and relevant notifications and circulars are awaited.
The
Press Release is given below for ready reference:
Decisions taken
by the GST Council in the 34thmeeting held on 19thMarch, 2019 regarding GST rate on real estate sector
GST
Council
in the 34th meeting
held on 19th March, 2019
at New Delhi discussed
the operational details for implementation of the recommendations made by the council in its 33rd meeting
for
lower
effective GST
rate
of
1%
in case of
affordable
houses
and 5% on construction of houses other than affordable house. The council decided the modalities of the transition as follows.
Option in respect of ongoing projects:
2. The promoters shall be given a one -time option to continue to
pay
tax at the old rates
(effective rate of 8% or 12% with ITC) on ongoing projects (buildings where construction and actual booking have both started before 01.04.2019) which have not been completed by
31.03.2019.
3. The option shall be exercised
once within a prescribed
time frame and where the option is not exercised within the prescribed time limit, new rates shall apply.
New tax rates:
4. The new tax rates which shall be applicable to new projects or ongoing projects which have exercised the above option to pay tax in the new regime are as follows.
(i) New rate of 1% without input tax credit (ITC) on construction of affordable houses shall be available for,
(a) all houses
which meet the definition of affordable houses as decided by GSTC (area
60 sqm in non- metros / 90 sqm in metros and value upto RS. 45 lakhs), and
(b)
affordable houses being constructed in ongoing projects under the existing central and state housing schemes presently eligible for concessional rate of 8% GST (after 1/3rd land abatement).
(ii) New rate of 5% without input tax creditshall be applicable on construction of,-
(a) all houses other than affordable houses in ongoing projects whether booked prior to or after 01.04.2019.
In case of houses booked prior to 01.04.2019, new rate shall be available on instalments payable on or after 01.04.2019.
(b) all houses other than affordable houses in new projects.
(c) commercial apartments such as shops, offices etc. in
a residential real estate project
(RREP) in which the carpet area of commercial apartments is not
more than 15% of total carpet area of all apartments.
Conditions for the new tax rates:
5. The new
tax rates of
1% (on construction
of
affordable) and
5%
(on other
than affordable houses) shall be available subject to following conditions,-
(a) Input tax credit shall not be available,
(b) 80% of inputs and input services (other than capital goods, TDR/ JDA, FSI, long
term
lease (premiums)) shall be
purchased from registered
persons.
On
shortfall of purchases from
80%, tax shall
be
paid
by the builder @ 18% on
RCM basis. However, Tax on
cement purchased from unregistered person shall be paid @ 28% under RCM, and on capital goods under RCM at applicable rates.
Transition for ongoing projects opting for the new tax rate:
6.1 Ongoing projects (buildings where construction and booking
both had started before
01.04.2019)
and have not
been
completed by
31.03.2019 opting
for new tax rates
shall transition the ITC as per the prescribed method.
6.2 The transition formula approved by the GST Council, for residential projects (refer to para 4(ii)) extrapolates ITC taken for percentage completion of construction as on 01.04.2019
to arrive at ITC for
the entire project.
Then
based on percentage booking of flats and percentage invoicing, ITC eligibility is determined. Thus, transition would thus be on pro-rata
basis based on a simple formula such that credit in proportion to booking of the flat and invoicing done for the booked flat is available subject to a few safeguards.
6.3 For a mixed project transition shall also allow ITC on pro-rata basis in proportion to carpet area of the commercial portion in the ongoing projects (on which tax will be payable
@ 12% with ITC even after 1.4.2019) to
the total carpet area of the project.
Treatment of TDR/ FSI and Long term lease for projects commencing after 01.04.2019
7. The
following treatment shall apply to TDR/ FSI and Long term lease for projects
commencing after 01.04.2019.
7.1 Supply of
TDR,
FSI,
long
term
lease
(premium)
of
land by
a
landowner
to a developer shall be
exempted subject to the condition that the constructed flats are sold before
issuance of completion certificate and tax is paid on them. Exemption of TDR, FSI, long term lease (premium) shall be withdrawn in case of flats sold after issue of completion certificate, but such withdrawal shall be limited to 1% of value in case of affordable houses and 5% of value in case of other than affordable houses. This will achieve a fair degree of taxation parity between under construction and ready to move property.
7.2 The liability to pay tax on
TDR, FSI, long term lease (premium) shall be shifted from land owner to builder underthe reverse charge mechanism (RCM).
7.3 The date on which builder shall be liable to pay tax on TDR, FSI, long term lease (premium) of land under RCM in respect of flats sold after completion certificate is being shifted to date of issue of completion certificate.
7.4 The liability of builder to pay tax on construction of houses given to land owner in a JDA is also being shifted
to the
date of completion.
Decisions
from para 7.1 to 7.4 are expected to address the problem of cash flow in the sector.
Amendment to ITC rules:
8. ITC rules shall be amended to bring greater clarity on monthly and final determination of ITC and reversal thereof in real estate projects. The change would clearly provide procedure for availing input tax credit in relation to
commercial units as such units would continue to be eligible for input tax credit in a mixed project.
9. The decisions of the GST Council have been presented in this note in simple language for easy understanding.
The same would be given effect to through Gazette notifications/
circulars which alone shall have force of law.
.