Home buyers may have to cough up goods and services tax at the rate of 12% on the balance payment for an apartment if the project received a completion certificate by March 31, 2019.

According to the latest clarification in frequently asked questions, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has said builders who have received a completion certificate for an ongoing project before April 1, 2019, will have to charge 12% GST from buyers on the balance amount due towards purchase of the flat.

In the second set of FAQs for the realty sector, it said builders will not be able to adjust the accumulated credits in ongoing projects in case they opt for lower GST rate of 5% for normal and 1% for affordable housing.

The first set of FAQs for the real estate sector was issued last week to clarify doubts with regard to the migration of developers to new GST rates, which have come into force from April 1, 2019. The GST Council, headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley and comprising state counterparts, had in March allowed realty players to shift to 5% GST rate for residential units and 1% for affordable housing without benefit of input tax credit (ITC) from April 1, 2019.  – www.economics-times.com[16-05-2019]