GST : Will it have an impact on the Real Estate Industry ?

The goods and services tax (GST), cleared by the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, is expected to benefit the real estate industry, though the impact will depend on the final GST rate.

The real estate sector is one of the fastest growing sector in India and contributes about 7.8% to India’s GDP and is the second-largest employment generator after the IT industry.

Presently this industry has two primary levies, Service tax and VAT, with overlap of tax base and constant disputes on the rate of tax, given the multiple options available for discharge of taxes across States.  This has resulted in diverse practices being followed by developers, across geographies and even within each State.  These issues should be put to rest under the GST regime and the practices and positions should be common across India.  Hence, the taxes paid by a home buyers across States should more or less be the same.

There are also various elements of non-creditable tax costs, like excise duty, customs duty, CST, entry tax, etc paid by the developer on his procurement side, which is inbuilt into the pricing of the units.  All these tax costs add upto anywhere between 22%-25% of the price of units.  The proposed GST should replace these multiple taxes with a single tax and should also ensure smooth flow of credits through the chain.  Hence, it is widely expected that GST should reduce the construction cost in the hands of the developer and thereby aid in reducing or atleast maintaining the current level of prices in the real estate sector.  The only dampner could however be high GST rates (like the 27% GST rate that is doing the rounds) which will offset any possible gains on incremental credits.  Stamp duty is not proposed to be subsumed under GST and hence will continue as it is today.

See also: Existing Tax Reforms

We have analyze the effect of GST on various Realty Sector :

Construction :

Sale of constructed (immovable) property:

GST is levied on supply of goods and services. Hence, sale of property after construction (i.e., immovable property) should be outside the ambit of GST. However, stamp duty on the sale of immovable property would continue to be levied.The only difference would be that the current multiple taxes on procurement side would get replaced by GST and that there would be a rate difference in the current taxes and the rate of GST. The difference in rate, upwards or downwards, would accordingly impact the property prices.

Sale of under-construction property:
Sale of under-construction property is likely to be covered within the ambit of GST. A clause in the Model GST Law states that credit of GST paid on goods and services acquired for construction of immoveable property (other than plant and machinery) would not be available. This clause is a cause of concern as it is ambiguous and interpretative which may lead to litigations and denial of credits for this sector.

Construction of property for leasing

The activity of leasing of immovable property is likely to qualify as a service under the GST regime and would accordingly attract GST. In today’s regime, leasing of immovable property for commercial purposes attracts service tax whereas leasing for residential purposes is in the negative list and does not attract service tax. The same regime should continue under GST.

For commercial properties, though service tax is applicable on lease rentals, the input tax credits are not available under the current regime. In the proposed regime, GST is likely to apply on lease rentals; the issue for consideration is whether credit of GST paid on procurement of goods and services would be available or not.

 

Real Estate Developers :

There are a few clarifications that might be sought for GST taxation by real estate developers. For instance, the definition of a real estate developer varies from one state to another in India. The composition scheme varies according to State, in which the VAT rates come between 1-5%. In some States, there are differences between the terms real estate contractors and real estate developers. It has to be understood what will the GST implications are if the terms have different meanings.

There might be some confusion regarding GST implementations on residential property, as well. In the present scenario, there is no service tax applicable on renting immovable property, particularly for residential purposes. But service tax and VAT is implemented on the construction work. The question that arises is if the proposed GST will offer differential tax for residential properties.

As of now, it does not look like completed residential projects will be affected by GST, as buyers into completed projects have already paid statutory charges such as stamp duty and registration charges on the transaction. The segments to watch on the GST front are under-construction and rental flats, which are expected to come under the ambit of GST. GST will apply to the materials that a developer procures for building a residential project, so there is a direct correlation to the overall cost of construction.

A lot depends on what rate of GST will finally be confirmed. If it is more than the existing cumulative taxes currently in force, it means that the overall cost to consumers of buying an under-construction flat will increase along with the added cost of stamp duty and registration. At the same time, developers have to keep an eye on costing, as price competitiveness is very important in the current real estate market scenario.