IDP Education India Pvt Ltd. Vs Union of India & Ors (Bombay High Court)
Bombay High Court has ruled that IDP Education India Pvt. Ltd. does not qualify as an “intermediary” under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) Act, 2017, for the purpose of claiming refunds on services supplied to its Australian parent company. The decision, delivered recently, sets aside the rejection of IGST refund claims totaling over Rs. 9.7 crore for the periods March 2019 to April 2020 and April 2020 to March 2021.
The common question before the court in two writ petitions filed by IDP Education India Pvt. Ltd. was whether the petitioner fell under the definition of “Intermediary” as per Section 13(8) read with Section 2(13) of the IGST Act.
Background of the Case
IDP Education India Pvt. Ltd. is a subsidiary of IDP Education Ltd., an Australian company (“IDP Australia”). IDP Australia has agreements with various foreign universities to assist students in securing admissions to educational courses. For these student placement services, foreign universities pay IDP Australia a percentage of the fees charged to students.
To fulfill its obligations to foreign universities, IDP Australia entered into a Support Services Agreement with its Indian subsidiary, IDP Education India, on July 1, 2017. Under this agreement, the Indian entity is tasked with providing support services to IDP Australia concerning Indian students interested in foreign university courses. In return, IDP Australia shares a percentage of the fees it receives from foreign universities with its Indian subsidiary.
