Will GST Council spell relief for foreign airlines at Monday's meeting?
₹10,000 crore earlier this year, prompting an international travel body to caution that India's complex tax laws may spark an exodus by foreign operators. On Monday, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council will take up the issue, along with proposals to provide tax relief for certain helicopter services, work related to software exporters such as Infosys Ltd, and core research by private enterprises, two people aware of the development said.
The federal indirect tax body, to be chaired by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, will consider a proposal to exempt overseas headquartered airlines’ reimbursement of expenses incurred by their Indian branch office from the purview of GST, one of the two people cited above said. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had said last month that the tax notices were ‘flawed’, and not in line with global conventions in aviation.
The Council is also expected to issue clarifications on helicopter services for religious purposes to aid service providers. At present, a concessional 5% GST applies to helicopter services for religious tours without credit for taxes paid on goods and services used in the service.
The Council may consider a proposal to make the tax regime easier for the service providers, the person said on the condition of anonymity. The Council will also consider a proposal to offer tax relief for private sector players conducting core research and development activities which have no existing commercial application, a second person said on the condition of anonymity.
Read more on livemint.com
