No GST on membership or admission fee

The Maharashtra bench of the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling has held that membership fee or admission fee to a club does not fall under the supply of services and as such should not attract GST. The applicant, a wing of the popular Rotary Club in Mumbai city, sought an advance ruling to clarify if the amount collected as membership or admission fee would be liable to tax. In their submission of the appeal, the applicant had stated that the amount collected as membership or admission fee was utilised to cover administrative expenses of the club and was not a charge for any specific benefits to its members. In a similar case, the West Bengal bench of the AAR had ruled that such amounts would be liable to GST once again throwing light on the issue of contradictory AAR rulings across various states.