In re Fortune Estates Association of Apartment Owners (GST AAR West Bengal)
In the case of Fortune Estates Association of Apartment Owners, the West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling addressed whether a Residential Welfare Association (RWA) must charge GST on contributions from all members or only from those exceeding Rs. 7,500 per month. The RWA sought clarification on whether GST applies to all members regardless of their individual contributions or only to those whose monthly share exceeds the specified threshold, considering the association’s annual turnover exceeds Rs. 20 lakhs. The Authority reviewed the relevant provisions of the GST Act and the exemption notification. It concluded that GST is not applicable to contributions up to Rs. 7,500 per month per member, regardless of other members’ contributions. The exemption applies individually per member, so if one member’s monthly contribution is below Rs. 7,500, the RWA is not required to charge GST on that amount. The ruling aligns with the intent of the GST provisions that aim to exempt smaller transactions from tax.
FULL TEXT OF ORDER OF AUTHORITY OF ADVANCE RULING, WEST BENGAL
1.1 At the outset, we would like to make it clear that the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (the CGST Act, for short) and the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (the WBGST Act, for short) have the same provisions in like matter except for certain provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is specifically made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference to the CGST Act would also mean reference to the corresponding similar provisions in the WBGST Act. Further to the earlier, henceforth for the purposes of these proceedings, the expression “GST Act” would mean the CGST Act and the WBGST Act both.
