GST on Basic mail services provided by Department of Post

[Hital Vyas]

Basic mail services known as postal services such as post card, book post, registered post, media post, business post etc provided exclusively by Department of Post were exempt and were not liable for RCM for the services utilised by Registered Business Entities. The Post Office Services like Speed Post, Express Parcel, Life Insurance, Agency Service were liable for GST under Forward charge. But in the Press release of 47 council meeting they stated that:

All taxable service of Department of Posts would be subject to forward charge. Hitherto certain taxable services of Department of post were taxed on reverse charge basis.

Please can clarify what does the 'Hitherto certain taxable services of Department of post were taxed on reverse charge basis' mean and which services were covered and which were exempt.

AI Summary

GST Now Applies to All Taxable Postal Services Under Forward Charge; Basic Mail Services Remain Exempt The discussion addresses the applicability of Goods and Services Tax (GST) on postal services provided by the Department of Post. Basic mail services like postcards and registered post are exempt from GST and not subject to reverse charge mechanism (RCM) for registered business entities. Services such as Speed Post and Express Parcel are subject to GST under forward charge. A change was noted in a press release stating that all taxable services of the Department of Post would now be subject to forward charge, whereas earlier, some were taxed on a reverse charge basis. Clarification on which services were affected is pending government notification.