The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has announced that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) dispensation under reverse charge mechanism (RCM) will now apply to courts and tribunals in India for commercial taxable services like renting premises to telecommunication companies for tower installation, renting chambers to lawyers, and other similar services. This amendment is effective from March 1, 2023, and aims to bring uniformity in the tax treatment of services provided by courts and tribunals.
CBIC has amended its earlier notifications, stating that the RCM provisions will now apply to courts and tribunals in the same way as they apply to the Central and State Governments. This means that the recipient of the services provided by the courts and tribunals will now be responsible for paying the GST instead of the service provider.
This decision will ensure that the services provided by courts and tribunals are taxed in the same way as other commercial services and will help in preventing any potential tax disputes. Moreover, this decision will help the government in expanding its tax base and increasing its revenue.
In this regard, CBIC has amended the Central Tax Rate Notification 13/2017, Integrated Tax Rate Notification 10/2017, and UT Tax Rate Notification 13/2017 to reflect these changes.
CBIC Central Tax Rate Notification 2/2023 dated 28/02/2023: Seeks to amend Central Tax Rate Notification 13/2017
CBIC Integrated Tax Rate Notification 2/2023 dated 28/02/2023: Seeks to amend Integrated Tax Rate Notification 10/2017
CBIC UT Tax Rate Notification 2/2023 dated 28/02/2023: Seeks to amend UT Tax Rate Notification 13/2017