In re Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (GST AAR Gujrat)
Q1. What shall be the nature of service and classification in accordance with Notification No. 11/2017- CT R, dated 28.06.17 read with annexure attached to it in relation the following services:
a. Service provided by ISCCM to the delegates;
b. Service provided by ISCCM to the exhibitors.
A1(a). ISCCM supplies Composite Supply to its delegates, the principal supply being Professional Service supply. SAC is 998399.
A1(b). ISCCM supplies ‘Exhibition, Trade show organization and assistance services’ to the exhibitors. SAC is 9985 96.
Q2. In relation to the brand promotion packages offered by ISCCM in the course of the event,
a. What shall be the nature of service and classification in accordance with Notification No. 11/2017- CT R, dated 28.06.17 read with annexure attached to it?
b. Whether ISCCM is liable to pay tax on services provided to the brand promoters or the liability to pay tax on such services falls on recipient under reverse charge according to Notification No. 13/2017 Central Tax Rate ?
A2(a). ISCCM supplies Sponsorship Services to its sponsors. SAC is 9983 97.
A2(b). GST liability on sponsorship service is on the service recipient (if the recipient is a body corporate or partnership firm) if the recipient is in taxable territory. If the service recipient is not a body corporate/ firm, then GST is liable to be paid by ISCCM on forward charge.
Q3. Whether Input Tax Credit is admissible for ISCCM in respect of tax paid on the following
a. Services provided by the hotel including accommodation, food & beverages
b. Supply of food and beverages by outside caterers
c. Services provided by event manager like pickup & drop exhibition stall set up, tenting, etc
A3. ITC, as per Question 3 of the Application, is admissible to ISCCM.
FULL TEXT OF THE ORDER OF AUTHORITY FOR ADVANCE RULING, GUJARAT
Brief facts:
M/s. Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (herein after referred to as ISCCM for the sake of brevity) submits that it is engaged in imparting educational training by developing and running Post – graduate fellowship courses & diplomas in the field of critical care medicine and providing basic training in intensive care for non-specialists.
2. ISCCM has submitted that for the purpose of upliftment and advancement of public at large, it is conducting a conference and exhibition in Ahmedabad in the month of February, 2021 with the name of CRITICARE. The applicant will organize and manage the conference and exhibition and it will be attended by delegates, vendors, exhibitors from all states of India including Gujarat and international vendors as well.
3. ISCCM will offer following facilities to the delegates in the event at an all inclusive registration fees:
a. Technical Theme – based Seminars
b. Access to exhibition
c. Interactive workshop and scientific session
d. Hotel Room Accommodation
e. Cultural programs, lunch & dinner
f. Airport Pickup & Drop.
4. ISCCM has submitted that the interested local, national & international vendors will be offered to participate in the trade fair to showcase and exhibit their products against certain participation charges. Further, various brand promotion packages will be offered to local, national & international vendors in the course of the event.
5. ISCCM submits that bundle of services is being offered to the delegates; reference to the concept of ‘composite supply’ under CGST Act, 2017 is required:-
(30) “composite supply” means a supply made by a taxable person to a recipient consisting of two or more taxable supplies of goods or services or both, or any combination thereof, which are naturally bundled and supplied in conjunction with each other in the ordinary course of business, one of which is a principal supply;
6. ISCCM has submitted that all the above supplies provided together to the delegates are taxable supplies. To determine natural bundling, Education Guide issued by CBEC in the year 2012 is referred which provided that whether services are bundled in the ordinary course of business would depend upon the normal or frequent practices followed in the area of business to which service relate. Such normal and frequent practices adopted in a business can be ascertained from several indicators some of which are listed below :-
a. The perception of the consumer or the service receiver;
b. Majority of service providers in a particular area of business provide similar bundle of services. For example, bundle of catering on board and transport by air is a bundle offered by a majority of airlines;
c. If the nature of services is such that one of the services is the main service and the other services combined with such service are in the nature of incidental or ancillary services which help in better enjoyment of a main service.
d. Other illustrative indicators, not determinative but indicative of bundling of services in ordinary course of business are –
i. There is a single price or the customer pays the same amount, no matter how much of the package they actually receive or use;
ii. The elements are normally advertised as a package;
iii. The different elements are not available separately;
iv. The different elements are integral to one overall supply – if one or more is removed, the nature of the supply would be affected.
That above indicators being applied in the given case, it evidently appears that the supply made by ISCCM to the delegates is a composite supply.
10. Section 8 of Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 provides as under:
The tax liability on a composite or a mixed supply shall be determined in the following manner, namely:-
(a) Composite supply comprising two or more supplies, one of which is a principal supply, shall be treated as a supply of such principal supply; and
(b) Mixed supply comprising two or more supplies shall be treated as a supply of that particular supply which attracts the highest rate of tax.
Hence, the composite supply provided by ISCCM to the delegates shall be treated as a supply of service of organization of conference.
11. The classification of services under GST is provided vide Annexure of Notification No. 11/2017- Central Tax (Rate), dated 28.06.2017, relevant extracts of the Annexure and Notification is as under:
