Can society ask you to pay GST on maintenance charges which are below Rs 6,500 per month for commercial office space?

Hi There,

There are two situations which could occur,

1. Is the turnover of your RWA (residential welfare associations) more than Rs. 20 lakhs in one year and are they registered under the GST Act?
2. Is the Turnover of Your RWA less than 20 lakhs in one year and they are not registered.

Let us consider Option 2 first which says that RWA is not registered under the GST Act. In such a situation, there is no need for them to charge GST on your account and it is not legal also to charge GST under the given situation.

Under Option 1, They can charge GST on your commercial spaces as all the exemptions are given only to the case of residential spaces. Moreover, the exemption limit is Rs. 7500/- and not 6500/- as asked in the question.

There was a circular ( Circular No.109/28/2019- GST) clarifying the applicability of GST on RWAs and a copy of it could be found here. There is no mention of Commerical spaces in the circular however it has mentioned residential spaces. Thus, they are fair in asking GST in the current situation. If you are paying GST there you could very well ask for a Tax invoice and claim ITC on the same.

Hope this Helps.