GST Exemptions on Services

Services by Government or a local authority excluding the following services—

1. services by the Department of Posts by way of speed post, express parcel post, life insurance, and agency services provided to a person other than Government;
2. services in relation to an aircraft or a vessel, inside or outside the precincts of a port or an airport;
3. transport of goods or passengers; or
4. any service, other than services covered under clauses (i) to (iii) above, provided to business entities.

Services relating to cultivation of plants and rearing of all life forms of animals, except the rearing of horses, for food, fiber, fuel, raw material or other similar products or agricultural produce by way of—

1. Agricultural operations directly related to production of any agricultural produce including cultivation, harvesting, threshing, plant protection or testing or
2. Supply of farm labor;
3. Processes carried out at an agricultural farm including tending, pruning, cutting,  harvesting, drying, cleaning, trimming, sun drying, fumigating, curing, sorting, grading, cooling or bulk packaging and such like operations which do not alter the essential characteristics of agricultural produce but make it only marketable for the primary market;
4. Renting or leasing of agro machinery or vacant land with or without a structure incidental to its use;
5. Loading, unloading, packing, storage or warehousing of agricultural produce;
6. Agricultural extension services;
7. Services by any Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee or Board or services provided by a commission agent for sale or purchase of agricultural produce.

Services by way of—

1. Extending deposits, loans or advances in so far as the consideration is represented by way of interest or discount (other than interest involved in credit card services)
2. Inter se sale or purchase of foreign currency amongst banks or authorized dealers of  foreign exchange or amongst banks and such dealers

Services by way of transportation of goods

1. By road except the services of—
   1. A goods transportation agency; or
   2. A courier agency;
2. By inland waterways;

Services provided to the United Nations or a specified international organization.

Exemption may be notified by way of issuing notification under Section 55 of CGST/SGST Act.

Services provided by-

1. An arbitral tribunal to -
   1. any person other than a business entity; or
   2. a business entity with a    turnover up to rupees twenty lakh (ten lakh rupees in a special category state) in the preceding financial year;
2. A partnership firm of advocates or an individual as an advocate other than a senior advocate, by way of legal services to-
   1. an advocate or partnership firm of advocates providing legal services;
   2. any person other than a business entity; or
   3. a business entity with a turnover up to rupees twenty lakh (ten lakh rupees in a special category state) in the preceding financial year; or
3. A senior advocate by way of legal services to-
   1. Any person other than a business entity; or
   2. A business entity up to rupees twenty lakh (ten lakh rupees in a special category state) in the preceding financial year;

Services provided,-

1. By an educational institution to its students, faculty, and staff;
2. To an educational institution, by way of,-
   1. Transportation of students, faculty, and staff;
   2. Catering, including any mid-day meals scheme sponsored by the Government;
   3. Security or cleaning or house - keeping services performed in such educational institution; (iv)services relating to admission to, or conduct of examination by, such institution; upto higher secondary.

Provided that nothing contained in clause (b) of this entry shall apply to an educational institution other than an institution providing services by way of pre-school education and education up to higher secondary school or equivalent

Services provided by the Indian Institutes of Management, as per the guidelines of the Central Government, to their students, by way of the following educational programmes, except Executive Development Programme, -

1. Two year full time residential Post Graduate Programmes in Management for the Post Graduate Diploma in Management, to which admissions are made on the basis of Common Admission Test (CAT), conducted by Indian Institute of Management;                                        
2. Fellow programme in Management;                                                                                
3. Five year integrated programme in Management.

Services provided to a recognized sports body by-

1. An individual as a player, referee, umpire, coach or team manager for participation in a sporting event organized by a recognized sports body;
2. Another recognised sports body;

Services by an artist by way of a performance in folk or classical art forms of

(i) music, or

(ii)dance, or

(iii)theatre, if the consideration charged for such performance is not more than one lakh and  fifty thousand rupees:

Provided that the exemption shall not apply to service provided by such artist as a brand ambassador;

Services by way of giving on hire -

1. To a state transport undertaking, a motor vehicle meant to carry more than twelve passengers; or
2. To a goods transport agency, a means of transportation of goods;

Transport of passengers, with or without accompanied belongings, by -

1. air, embarking from or terminating in an airport located in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, or Tripura or at Bagdogra located in West Bengal;
2. non-airconditioned contract carriage other than radio taxi, for transportation of passengers, excluding tourism, conducted tour, charter or hire; or
3. stage carriage other than air-conditioned stage carriage

Services provided by an incubatee up to a total turnover of fifty lakh rupees in a financial year subject to the following conditions, namely:-

1. the total turnover had not exceeded fifty lakh rupees during the preceding financial year; and
2. a period of three  years  has  not  been  elapsed  from  the  date  of  entering  into  an  agreement  as an incubatee;

Service by an unincorporated body or a non- profit entity registered under any law for the time being in force, to its own members by way of reimbursement of charges or share of contribution -

1. as a trade union;
2. for the provision of carrying out any activity which is exempt from the levy of GST; or
3. up to an amount of five thousand rupees per month per member for sourcing of goods or services from a third person for the common use of its members in a housing society or a residential complex;

Services by way of transportation by rail or a vessel from one place in India to another of the following goods -

1. relief materials meant for victims of natural or man-made disasters, calamities, accidents or mishap;
2. defence  or military equipment;
3. newspaper or magazines registered with the Registrar of Newspapers;
4. railway equipment or materials;
5. agricultural produce;
6. milk, salt and food grain including flours, pulses and rice; and
7. organic manure

Services provided by a goods transport agency, by way of transport in a goods carriage of,-

1. agricultural produce;
2. goods, where gross amount charged for the transportation of goods on a consignment transported in a single carriage does not exceed one thousand five hundred rupees;
3. goods, where gross amount charged for transportation of all such goods for a single consignee does not exceed rupees seven hundred fifty;
4. milk, salt and food grain including flour, pulses, and rice;
5. organic manure;
6. newspaper or magazines registered with the Registrar of Newspapers;
7. relief materials meant for victims of natural or man-made disasters, calamities, accidents or mishap; or
8. defence or military equipments;

Services by the following persons in respective capacities -

1. business facilitator or a business correspondent to a banking company with respect to accounts in its rural area branch;
2. any person as an intermediary to a business facilitator or a business correspondent with respect to services mentioned in clause (g)
3. business facilitator or a business correspondent to an insurance company in a rural area;

Services by way of right to admission to, -

1. circus, dance, or theatrical performance including drama or ballet;
2. award function, concert, pageant, musical performance or any sporting event other than a recognized sporting event;
3. recognized sporting event;

where the consideration for admission is not more than Rs 250 per person in (i), (ii) and (iii) above.

Services provided by Government or a local authority where the gross amount charged for such services does not exceed Rs.5000/.

Provided that nothing contained in this entry shall apply to services  S. No. 1 (i), (ii)and (iii) above: Provided further that in case where continuous supply of service, as defined in sub-section (33) of  section2 of the CGST Act, 2017, is provided by the Government or a local authority, the exemption shall apply only where the gross amount charged for such service does not exceed Rs. 5000/- in a financial year; [This may be continued by way of an omnibus threshold exemption from payment of GST under section 9 (4) of CGST/SGST Act in respect of supplies upto Rs 10,000/-].

(i)  Health care services by a clinical establishment, an authorized medical practitioner or para-medics;

(ii)  Services provided by way of transportation of a patient in an ambulance, other than those specified  in

(i)  above;

New Exemption:

Services provided by the Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) to the Central Government or State Governments/Union Territories for implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST)

Pure services (excluding works contract service or other composite supplies involving supply of  any goods) provided to Government, a local authority or a Governmental authority by way of any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Panchayat under Article 243G of the Constitution or to any function entrusted to a Municipality under Article 243W of the Constitution

(New Entry Decision taken by GST council in the COUNCIL IN THE 16 MEETING 11 JUNE 2017)

Services provided to the Government under any insurance scheme for which total premium is paid by Government

(New Entry Decision taken by GST council in the COUNCIL IN THE 16 MEETING 11 JUNE 2017)

Services provided to the Government under any training programme for which total expenditure is borne by the Government

(New Entry Decision taken by GST council in the COUNCIL IN THE 16 MEETING 11 JUNE 2017)