Homebuyers and renters keeping fingers crossed on GST impact

A lower tax rate of 12% on housing in the under-construction stage will help reduce the cost of homes and increase affordability for end-users

NEW INDIRECT TAX REGIME

THE LOWER House of Parliament has cleared four Bills — Integrated GST, Central GST, Union Territory GST and Compensation Bill — in preparation of the upcoming rollout of the goods and services tax (GST) regime

This sets the stage for states to enact laws and implement the new tax regime from July. The tax rates applicable on products and services are expected to be announced by April-end.

As widely reported, the CGST Bill states that any tenancy, lease, licence to occupy land, or easement will be considered as supply of service. Any lease or letting out of a residential, industrial or commercial building for commercial purposes will also constitute a supply of services. Simultaneously, the sale of land or building (except the sale of underconstruction buildings) will not be treated as either supply of goods or services. The sale of land and buildings will be out of the purview of GST, and such transactions will continue to attract stamp duty.

Therefore, once goods and services tax comes into effect from July, the leasing of land and buildings — as well as home loan equated-monthly instalments paid by those who purchase under-construction apartments — will attract the applicable tax rate. Depending upon the tax rate that will be announced for real estate, the effect could be higher or lower than today.

Hoping against hope

The industry hopes that a lower tax rate of 12 per cent be applied on real estate in the under-construction stage, as it will help reduce the cost of homes and increase affordability for end-users. However, a higher rate of 18 per cent would increase the cost of houses in under-construction projects. The government must give clarity on the composition scheme (i.e. abatements for cost of land) and on the service tax and value-added tax already paid by developers for their under-construction projects.

Under the service tax regime, developers and homebuyers can obtain benefits under the abatement scheme. In the case of buying an under-construction flat, an abatement of 75 per cent is allowed, subject to the flat being less than 2,000 sq ft and sold for less than Rs 1 crore, taking the effective tax rate from 15 per cent to 3.75 per cent. If the two conditions are not met, the abatement is reduced to 70 per cent and the effective tax rate to be borne by the buyer increases to 4.5 per cent. States also charge VAT on top of this service tax.

However, if the abatement rules do not apply under the GST regime, the applicable tax rate would shoot up dramatically. Similarly, the final applicable tax rate would define whether those living in rented residential properties end up with much higher or slightly higher rental outgo, as the additional tax to be paid by the landlord will get passed onto the lessee. Under the current regime, service tax is levied on rents paid for commercial and industrial units, and not for residential units.

Effect on affordable housing?

According to reports, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MHUPA) has suggested to the finance ministry that the current exemption of service tax on affordable housing should continue even under the GST regime. A decision on this is expected before July.

Given the government’s goal of ‘Housing for All by 2022’, this exemption is expected to continue under the new tax regime. MHUPA has also requested the states and union territories to consider waiver or rationalisation of stamp duty on affordable housing projects.

(The writer is chief executive officer & country head, JLL India)