Houseboat owners in Kerala are facing a sudden demand from the state GST department to pay 18% GST retrospectively from 2017, despite having paid 5% tax all these years based on the central GST office’s assurance. The state government claims there has been a misclassification, stating that houseboats come under water transport and should pay 18% tax. This has put a burden of Rs 1-7 crore on each boat owner, and the Kerala Houseboat Owners Federation has requested the state tourism minister to classify houseboats under tour operation services with 5% GST. The move goes against responsible tourism, as it will lead to boat operators procuring items from established businesses, instead of using local resources.
Source: a2ztaxcorp.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
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