RCM APPLICABILITY ON PERFORMANCE BY MUSICIAN IN HOTEL

[Guest]

Respected Experts,

My query is If any Musical night is performed by Musician (Artist) in the Hotel or Club , would there be any liability under Reverse Charge on Hotel or Club or would the musician need to pay under forward charge on his services provided to the Hotel or club.

[Amit Agrawal]

Services by way of performance by Musician (Artist) in the Hotel or Club in a Musical night is covered under forward charge upon the Musician (Artist), in my humble view and in such a case, concerned Hotel or Club are not liable to pay GST under RCM.

RCM liability under Serial No. 9 of Notification No. 13/2017- Central Tax (Rate) (as amended from time to time till date) is for 'Supply of services by a music composer, photographer, artist or the like by way of transfer or permitting the use or enjoyment of a copyright covered under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 13 of the Copyright Act, 1957 relating to original dramatic, musical or artistic works to a music company, producer or the like.'

These are ex facie views of mine and the same should not be construed as professional advice / suggestion. And I respect contrary views.

[Shilpi Jain]

Agree. Since there is no transfer or permitting use of copyright by musician, there is no RCM liabiltiy. Also, presently there is no liability under RCM for these services even if received from an unregistered person.

The musician would be liable to be paid if his aggregate turnover exceeds 20lakhs in the year/if he is already voluntarily registered under GST.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

The said service falls under forward charge.

AI Summary

Reverse charge on musician performances not triggered; artist liable under forward charge for hotel or club services. Live musical performances in hotels or clubs fall under forward charge with the musician liable to collect and remit GST; RCM at Serial No. 9 applies only where there is transfer or permitting of copyright to a music company or similar recipient, so mere live performances without copyright transfer do not attract RCM and venues are not liable under RCM. Registration and tax obligations for the musician arise if the musician crosses the statutory registration threshold or is voluntarily registered.