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TMI Blog2023 (7) TMI 755X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng education, yoga, meditation and other charitable objectives. 3. The applicant has sought advance ruling in respect of the following questions:- i. Whether the Education being provided by the applicant is exempt under Entry No. 57 of Notification No. 9/2017-Integrated Tax (Rate) dated 28th June 2017? ii. If no for point (a), whether such service is exempt under any other notification? 4. Admissibility of the application: The question is about the "applicability of a notification issued under the provisions of this Act" and is admissible under Section 97(2)(b) of the CGST Act 2017. 5. BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE: The applicant furnishes some facts relevant to the issue: 5.1 The applicant submits that they are a Public Charitable Trust founded in the year 1992, by Sadhguru and they enjoy exemption under section 12AB and 80G of Income Tax for its activities; that the Trust Deed clearly lays down the primary objective of the trust as promoting education, yoga, meditation and other charitable objectives. 5.2 The Applicant states that they are desirous to run Isha Samskriti, a gurukul style of residential school which seeks to impart traditional Bharatiya style of education to chi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Yoga, they are made to practice everyday which creates an ambience within their system to advance towards their spiritual well being. b. Indian Classical Music - as taught in the Hindustani & Carnatic traditions which are based on Samaveda & Natya Shastra. In Indian classical music, the way sound is used - the ragas, the tunes, everything - is such that if one gets deeply involved in this, it will bring meditativeness. The whole purpose of introducing this is to bring meditativeness and thus spirituality into the experience of the children so that they live it and then teach and spread it to others in the course of their life. c. Indian Classical Dance - as taught in Bharatanatyam and other forms based on Samaveda & Natya Shastra. Dance is not just entertainment but when the postures and the mudras are properly used, it leads to meditativeness. Dance is taught with this objective and the children imbibe the quality of meditativeness and spread the same to the world around them by living and teaching the same. d. Kalaripayattu -Known as the mother of all martial arts," is said to have originated from the Dhanurveda, a scientific treatise on the art of warfare in ancient Bharat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ading Group or Service Code (Tariff) Description of Services Rate (per cent) Condition 1 99 Services by an entity registered under section 12AA or 12AB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961) by way of charitable activities. Nil Nil For the purposes of this notification, unless the context otherwise requires, - (r) "charitable activities" means activities relating to - i. ................................... ii. advancement of religion, spirituality or yoga; iii............................ 6.2 The applicant submits that the Government of India has issued circular No. 66/40/2018-GST with respect to GST on Residential programmes or camps meant for advancement of religion, spirituality or yoga by religious and charitable trusts and reiterated the clarification provided in Chapter 39 "GST on Charitable and Religious Trusts" of Compilation of 51 GST Flyers updated as on 01.01.2018 as follows: "The services provided by entities registered under Section 12AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 by way of advancement of religion, spirituality or yoga are exempt. Fees or consideration charged in any other form from the participants for participating in a religious, Yoga or medita ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the same provisions in like matter and differ from each other only on a few specific provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is particularly made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference to the CGST Act wouId also mean reference to the corresponding similar provisions in the KGST Act. 9. We have considered the submissions made by the applicant in their application for advance ruling. We have also considered the issues involved on which advance ruling is sought by the applicant and the relevant facts along with the arguments made by their authorized representative and also their submissions made during the time of hearing. 10. The Applicant states that they are desirous to run Isha Samskriti, a gurukul style of residential school and main objective of this form of education is to nurture the human being so that his body, mind and energies are able to grow to the fullest extent; that they teach subjects like Sanskrit and English language, Indian classical music(Carnatic and Hindustani), Indian classical dance( Bharatnatyam and other forms), Kalaripayattu, Yoga and basic arithmetic; that these disciplines have an impact on the child's physical and intellectual development whic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... dge and practice of yoga, meditation and other related fields' and spreading of education and also other objectives like relief to poor, medical relief etc as their other objectives. However, there is no mention of any words like advancement of religion or spirituality. 13.1 The Applicant has stated that Isha Samskriti' is a gurukul style of residential school where subjects like Sanskrit and English language, Indian classical music (Carnatic and Hindustani), Indian classical dance( Bharatnatyam and other forms), Kalaripayattu, Yoga and basic arithmetic are taught and also extracurricular activities including football, volleyball and treks. They are just teaching these subjects as any other subjects in any normal residential schools but with a difference that the subjects taught here are not the same. 13.2 The Applicant also states that once the student completes 10 years of education (or till they attain 18 years), they can become professional dancers, musicians or yoga/kalaripayat teachers, but does not talk anything about being spiritual. In view of the above, it is observed that the Applicant is not providing any services relating to advancement of religion, spiritual ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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