The Gujarat High Court stayed the Goods & Services Tax (GST) department from taking any measures against five distinct councils and boards that control and register practitioners of different systems of medicine in the state over the payment of taxes.
In this case, the director general of GST Intelligence (DGGI) issued notices to the Gujarat Medical Council, the Council of Homeopathic System of Medicine, the Gujarat Board of Ayurvedic and Unani System of Medicine, the Gujarat State Dental Council and the Gujarat State Council for Physiotherapy u/s 74 of the GST Act.
It mentioned that these bodies are corporates and have GST numbers also, for that they furnish service instead of revising fees. Therefore their services are imposed to tax under the GST law.
After obtaining the opinion of experts these councils and boards answered the department and conveyed that they are not obligated to file GST as they are not private corporate bodies though they were made under the regulatory and they act as extended government bodies.
The department asked that these councils and boards are not government companies, though the body corporates and hence are obligated to file the taxes on the services they propose.
As per the advocate Neel Lakhani, who appeared for DGGI, the councils and boards filed petitions in the HC claiming that they are not taxable persons and demanded that the communication issued by the GST department be quashed.
Read Also: Gujarat HC: Future Amendment on Goodwill Depreciation Cannot Justify Reopening FY 2017-18 Assessment
Justice Bhargav Karia and Justice D N Ray after a preliminary hearing issued a notice asking for a response from the department by May 1 and asked the department not to carry any coercive action against the petitioners until then.
