Real estate may not come under GST anytime soon
At present, taxation of land and buildings is under the ambit of state governments as per Schedule VII of the Constitution.
Hyderabad: Officials of the law department believe that there will be several procedural hurdles in bringing real estate under the GST regime. In preparation for the next meeting of the GST Council on November 9, the state government has sought legal opinion on the possibility of making real estate taxable under the GST. At present, taxation of land and buildings is under the ambit of state governments as per Schedule VII of the Constitution. According to officials of the law department, this schedule will have to be amended by the Centre for real estate to be brought under the GST regime, and this could take a long time.
Apart from this, state governments will also need to amend their respective Stamps and Registration Acts. Union finance minister Arun Jaitley had proposed that this matter be discussed at the next meeting of the GST Council. As of now, only Bihar and Jammu and Kashmir have extended support to the Centre's proposal. A majority of the states are concerned that they will lose revenue on account of having to share the tax with the Centre if real estate is brought under the GST.
Mr Somesh Kumar, principal secretary, commercial taxes, said, “We are gathering comprehensive details on the pros and cons of bringing real estate under the GST. These details will be submitted and discussed in the next GST Council meeting. The construction sector has been brought under the GST. Realtors and builders have some concerns which they have brought to our notice. We will take these issues up in the meeting.” Realtors are urging the government to oppose bringing real estate under the GST. They want the issues raised by members of the real estate sector to be addressed first. A representation in this regard was submitted to finance minister Etela Rajender on Friday.