Coaching Centers Demand a Reduction in GST

Source: livemint

The representatives of some of the major coaching institutes have met the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanding to either remove 18 percent GST on coaching centers or reduce it to lower tax slab. In the meeting, which took place on Wednesday in New Delhi, the delegation also highlighted the adverse impact of the current higher GST rate on coaching centers.

An official of one of the coaching centers said they requested the finance minister to either discard the 18 percent GST altogether or put it on the lowest GST slab. The removal from high GST slab rate or reducing it to the lower slab would be beneficial for lakhs of students and their parents across the country. For a better and brighter tomorrow for their children, parents pay a lot to get them into coaching classes.

The delegation noted that each year, around 50 lakh students appear for entrance examinations to get admission into engineering and medical colleges. From those students, almost 25 lakh of them join coaching institutes to prepare for their examinations. Most students believe that they might be able to crack various entrance examinations such as JEE, CAT, CSE, and CPT by getting quality teaching from coaching institutes. The team of representatives also submitted a draft in which the objectives, various types of taxes levied on coaching institutes and the effects of GST upon students have been detailed.

Nirmala Sitharaman responded positively and asked the coaching centers representatives to communicate their demand to finance ministers of their respective states. In addition, she informed the delegation that if finance ministers of each state raised the issue of GST on coaching centers, the GST council will consider it positively.

The delegation was led by parliamentarian Punam Mahajan and consisted representatives of several coaching institutes from various states including Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Bengaluru, and Madhya Pradesh.