The Supreme Court has held that Haj Group Organisers or Private Tour Operators cannot seek exemption from the Goods and Services Tax for their services as per the Mega Exemption Notification issued under the GST Act The notification provided exemption for "conduct of any religious ceremony" as stated in its Clause 5. "If the intention and object was to provide …
The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a batch of petitions filed by various private tour operators seeking exemption from the Goods and Services Tax for the Haj and Umrah services offered by them to pilgrims travelling to Saudi Arabia.A bench of Justices A. M. Khanwilkar, A. S. Oka and C. T. Ravikumar pronounced the judgment. The Supreme Court on Thursday …
In the earlier part of the hearing on Thursday, Advocate Kotla Harshavardhan, being led by Mr. Datar, advanced that being a religious ceremony, the services provided as part of the pilgrimage are entitled to exemption, "The services I am required to provide are in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in respect of which I am seeking exemption. And if it …
Since November, Muslim clerics have been demanding that the 5% GST levied on Haj pilgrimage and the mandatory filing of Income Tax return be exempt. Earlier in 2020, the Haj Committee of India had petitioned Central Government’s Ministry of Finance to exempt the Haj Pilgrims from the mandatory filing of the income tax return, however, the issue seems to be …