Recently, seven educational institutions and universities across the country received Goods and Services Tax (GST) show cause notices from the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) for unpaid taxes amounting to ₹220 crore.
According to a report by CNBC TV 18, institutions such as IIT Delhi, Punjab University, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology, the Centre for Sponsored Research and Consultancy (Anna University), Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, and Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education have received show-cause notices.
“All seven institutions were issued show-cause notices in early August for non-payment of GST on grants received by them from government and non-government bodies for conducting research,” the report said citing sources.
The DGGI has claimed that the supply of R&D services by such institutions to organisations such as CSIR, ICMR, SERB, and other government or private institutes in return for grants do not qualify for GST exemption. Therefore, these institutions are supposed to pay GST on the grants they have received, according to the report.
“DGGI notice to Punjab University is for ₹4 crores, IIT Delhi for ₹120.3 crore, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology for ₹7.3 crore, Centre for Sponsored Research and Consultancy (Anna University) for ₹5.4 crore, Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy for ₹10 crore, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham for ₹63 crore and Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education for ₹10 crore, approximately,” the report said quoting sources.
In June, NITI Aayog in a report titled, Improving the Culture of R&D in State Universities and Institutes has proposed state universities and institutes to be exempted from GST and income-tax to promote research and development (R&D).
“State universities often operate on limited budgets allocated by state governments. Exempting them from GST ensures that essential goods and services they procure for academic and research purposes are not subjected to additional tax burdens," the NITI Aayog report said.
“This financial relief allows universities to allocate resources more efficiently to core activities like teaching, research, and infrastructure development,” the report added.
