Exempt langar, parshad from GST in all religious institutions: Capt to Jaitley

CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Am arin der Singh has sought GST exemption from Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on langar (community kitchen) and prasad distributed at various religious institutions.

The CM wrote t oJ a it ley ont he issue after the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), and other organisations and individuals demanded that GST be waived off on these materials.

Amarinder reminded Jaitley that gurdwaras were exempted from the payment of VAT on goods brought by them for serving food in free kitchens (langar).

However, under the new GST regime, tax is payable on the purchase of these goods.

The CM added that GST was also payable on the sale of pr as ad, thus impacting all religious institutions including temples, gurdwaras, mosques and churches.

“Levy of GST on goods purchased by religious institutions is not fair as these institutions did not have any source of income and were run and managed with finances raised through donations,” said Amarinder.

He also requested Jaitley to reconsider the matter and exempt all religious institutions

from the payment of GST, not only on sale and purchase of prasad, but also on purchased of goods for serving langar in free kitchens run by them.

The demand from the managements of religious institutions for exemption from G ST was fair and the central government should accede to it, the chief minister added.

Levy of GST on goods purchased by religious institutions is not fair as they did not have any source of income .

AMARINDER SINGH , Punjab chief minister