2026-VIL-187-AAR
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SGST Advance Ruling Authority

GST - Maharashtra AAR - Taxability of unconditional donations received by a charitable trust imparting yoga knowledge free of cost - Applicant, a public charitable trust registered under Section 12AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, imparted yogic knowledge free of cost through volunteers at its centres and received donations from some of the participants - Whether unconditional donations received by the applicant attract GST - HELD - Supply under Section 7(1)(a) of the CGST Act, 2017 requires a supply of goods or services made for a consideration, and consideration under Section 2(31) requires a direct and clear nexus between the payment and a supply. A purely voluntary donation where no benefit or service is provided to the donor is not taxable, whereas a donation linked to a service, facility or benefit extended to the donor is treated as consideration. Taxability depends on the substance of the transaction and not on the label assigned to it - In the present case, yoga knowledge is imparted free of cost through volunteers, the donations are voluntary and unconditional, and no obligation exists on the trust to provide any identifiable service to the donor - Such voluntary and unconditional donations do not qualify as consideration and do not fall within the scope of supply, hence GST is not leviable, though any amount described as donation but linked directly or indirectly to participation, entry, training or any identifiable benefit would be liable to GST – Ordered accordingly - Exemption under Entry No. 1 of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) for fees charged for structured yoga training, examination and certification courses - Applicant, a trust registered under Section 12AA of the Income-tax Act, 1961 and accredited by the Yoga Certification Board under the Ministry of AYUSH, conducted curriculum-based courses, examinations and certification for fees, which enabled students to secure employment as yoga trainers - Whether the fees for such training, examination and certification are exempt as charitable activities - HELD - Entry No. 1 of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) requires both registration under Section 12AA or 12AB of Income Tax Act and that the service qualify as a charitable activity as defined in the notification. Mere registration as a charitable trust does not grant exemption. The phrase ‘advancement of yoga’ is intended to cover activities such as free yoga camps, public awareness programmes, spiritual yoga dissemination and non-commercial yoga promotion. Structured, curriculum-based courses for a prescribed fee, culminating in examination, certification and a professional qualification, assume the character of a formal training or coaching service provided for consideration, which remains commercial for GST purposes even when carried out by a charitable trust. The consideration charged is directly linked to the services provided - Activity held to be a supply of training or coaching services for consideration, exemption under Entry No. 1 is not available and the services are liable to GST - Exemption for supply of certified yoga instructors to hospitals on contractual terms - Applicant supplied AYUSH certified yoga instructors to hospitals under memoranda of understanding on a continuous basis for an agreed monthly consideration and claimed exemption under Entry No. 1 of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) as an entity registered under Section 12AA engaged in advancement of yoga - Whether such supply of instructors is exempt as a charitable activity - HELD - The arrangement involves deployment of trained personnel under contractual arrangements for periodic consideration in the course of an organised activity, and satisfies all elements of supply of services under Section 7(1)(a). In substance, it is provision of trained manpower, classifiable as support services under SAC 9985 in the nature of manpower supply. The exemption is conditional and depends on the nature of the service qualifying as a charitable activity and not merely on the status of the service provider. The trust is not directly providing free public health services to beneficiaries, the hospitals pay consideration, and the service is commercially structured through memoranda of understanding - The mere fact that the services relate to health or wellness does not alter the taxable nature of the transaction in the absence of a specific exemption - Services held not to be charitable activities, exemption held not available and the services are liable to GST - Exemption under Entry No. 3 of Notification No. 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) for pure services to a local authority in relation to public health function under Article 243W of the Constitution - Applicant provided trained yoga instructors on an hourly basis to a Municipal Corporation for a public programme of training citizens in yoga to enable them to practise preventive health care, without supplying any goods or materials - Whether the services qualify as pure services provided to a local authority in relation to a function entrusted to a Municipality under Article 243W - HELD - Entry No. 3 requires three cumulative conditions, namely that the service be a pure service without supply of goods, that it be provided to the Government, a local authority or a governmental authority, and that it relate to a function entrusted to a Municipality under Article 243W read with the Twelfth Schedule - The Applicant supplied only instructors without any goods, and the consideration pertained solely to the service component, so the pure service condition stands satisfied. A Municipal Corporation is a local authority under Section 2(69) of the CGST Act - Though the arrangement bears characteristics of manpower supply, exemption notifications must be interpreted strictly having regard to the true nature and substance of the transaction. The instructors are the means through which the Municipal Corporation implements a public health and wellness programme in discharge of its constitutional functions. The dominant objective is execution of a civic health initiative and not commercial manpower supply, which has a direct nexus with public health falling within the Twelfth Schedule - All conditions of Entry No. 3 held fulfilled and the services held exempt as pure services provided to a local authority.
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