Understanding the GST Impact on Tourism Sector
Positive Impact on Tourism Industry
1. Uniformity in Taxes
The multiple taxes would be replaced by one single tax, the rate of which is likely to be between 16%-18%. The sector may benefit in the form of lower tax rates which should help in attracting more tourists in India.
2. Increased Revenue for State Government
Under GST the place of supply is shifted to the place where immovable property is situated in case of Hotels, Restaurant & Monuments for sightseeing. This will increase the revenue of such states where immovable property is located. Currently, on such income, States charges local Luxury Tax on hotel stay and VAT on food supplied. While Union Government gets revenue from Service Tax on such services. Because of GST, the States having maximum tourist places, hotels or restaurants for tourist shall earn the maximum revenue by way of SGST which will be equivalent to CGST.In the case of Passenger traveling, the state with the maximum outbound journey shall earn the highest revenue so the station or the port having highest outbound flights, train journey or local cab journey shall earn substantial revenue.
3. Saving in Food and Beverage operations
Companies specializing in food and beverages operations could be the biggest beneficiaries of GST within the hospitality sector. Food and beverages bills have multiple components which inflate the bills by 30- 35%. It is expected that GST to result in savings of more than 15-20% on the overall bill.
Negative Impact on Tourism Industry
1. Multiple Registration
Service providers having centralized registration will have to get registered in each state from where they provide services. Although Government has been claiming “One Nation One Tax”, practically it is not going to be so. Service providers will have an option to take different registration for separate business verticals which need to be examined on a case by case basis. Every state has been constitutionally granted right to collect GST on services.
2. Increased Compliance Burden
The procedure for all the invoices/receipts towards inward and outward supplies will become cumbersome as each one of them will have to be uploaded in the system. The concept of credit matching under GST would be very difficult to handle and would lead to increase in working capital requirements. The frequency and number of returns to be filed will go up. In place of a half yearly service tax return, under GST law, one will be required to file state wise monthly three GST returns along with an annual return will also be required to be filed.
3. No Credit on Work Contract Services
The hotel industry spends a lot of money on construction and renovation. The money paid as taxes on the works contract services when supplied for construction of an immovable property is not allowed for this sector when such services are not used for the further supply of works contract service. This would have a negative cascading effect despite strong promises being made by the government in this regard. Any proposal to make supplier of goods or services liable to pay tax under reverse charge when receiving supply from an unregistered supplier can increase burden in case of B2B transactions on registered assessee.
4. Liquor not included
Liquor should have been included in GST to ensure the seamless credit for the tourism industry. Exclusion of liquor from GST regime defeats the very purpose of bringing in a uniform tax structure across the nation. Must
GST Rate on Hotel RoomsGST Rate on food and beveragesGST on Travel AgentsGST Impact on the Travel Industry GST on Marriage Occasion
