Summary:
AHMEDABAD: After being charged Rs 52 crore as service tax , the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, (IIM-A) has sought the intervention of the ministry of human resource development (HRD).The IIM-A has been considered a ‘commercial coaching centre’ by the tax authorities. Other IIMs have also approached the tax authorities and the HRD ministry to seek a clarification on whether the GST will be levied on the courses even after the said exemption. The institute has argued that it falls under the exempted category and has requested a waiver.The department of revenue has considered taxable the fees received for courses offered by the IIM-A, including its flagship postgraduate programme (PGP), PGP in food and agri business management (PGP-FABM), executive programme (PGPX), and the fellow programme in management (FPM). The institute has been asked to pay Rs 52 crore as tax on the fees received for the period of six years: from financial year 2009-10 to 2014-15.In an email response, IIM-A director Prof Errol D’Souza said: “The principal commissioner of the central GST has levied a service tax on the fees charged by the institute for its long-duration academic programmes for the years 2009-10 to 2014-15.” He went on to say: “The institute has requested the HRD ministry to take up the matter with the finance ministry to issue necessary directions to the department to drop all proceedings.”Sources aware of developments said that the IIM-A had mentioned a notification by the central finance ministry that exempted the courses offered at IIMs from service tax..