TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2021 (3) TMI 546
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....the Policy Structure of Education Department is as under: (i) Continuous education and literacy are important programmes. (ii) Universelization of primary education for children in age group 6 to 14. (iii) Restriction on expansion of secondary and higher education and occupationalisation of secondary education and improvement of secondary and higher education. (iv) Concentration of plan and non-plan provisions and best use of investments made in education sector and the purpose of development. (v) Improvement in quality of implementation. 3. The applicant has submitted that in view of wide objectives, education department forms policies on education department, forms policies on education, supervises implementation and issues orders in the form of guide lines and orders and thus the Department looks after all matters concerning education. The applicant has stated that the Education Department which is one of the Departments of the Government of Gujarat has its own sub divisions like State Educational Boards namely: (a) Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board. (b) Gujarat State Technical Examination Boa....
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....ry Education Programme. Govt.service. 10. Director of Examination Director of Examination, Secondary Education Board, Sector-10, Gandhinagar. Govt.service. 11. Director Director of the Board of School Text Books, Gandhinagar. Govt.service. 12. Field Advisor Field Advisor, N.C.E.R.T., Ahmedabad. Govt.service. 13. Secretary Secretary State Examination Board, Opp. Government Library, Sector-21, Gandhinagar. Govt.service. 5. The applicant has submitted that the objective of the establishment of the State Examination Board is to arrange and conduct examination, graduate level and post graduate level examinations and awarding different professional Diploma and Certificates for General knowledge, knowledge of different subjects like Sports, Drawing, Architecture of the students studying in the various schools and high schools; that the main functionality to conduct examination for different aspects such as: (1) Jobs (TET, HTAT, TAT(S), TAT(HS), HMAT). (2) Scholarships (Primary, Secondary, National Talent Search). (3) Services (Department Exam and Panchayat Class III) and (4) Certificates (Drawing, Di....
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....am) Pursuing Std. 8th Successful Candidate shall receive scholarship of Rs. 1000/- per month for 10 months in a year for 4 years by Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi(for Std.9, 10, 11 and 12th ). 15. Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun-Entrance Exam(RIMC-Dehradun). Age between 11 yrs. 6 months to 13 yrs.old (Only male candidate) Successful Candidate gets admission in Rashtriya India Military College, Dehradun. 16. Other Department Exam As per the Recruitment Rules of post for various departments. 1. Forest guard examination for forest department. 2.Clerk for PGVCL. 3. Jail Sipahi for Home Department. 4. Stenographer for GIDC. 5. Environment officer and Scientific officer for GPCB. 6. CRC, BRC and URC for Education department. 7. School Inspector for Education Department. 17. Teacher Eligibility Test-1 (TET-1) 12th Higher Secondary(HSC) + D.El.Ed. Eligibility test to appoint for the Job of Teacher in Primary school (Std.1 to Std.5). 18. Teacher Eligibility Test-1 (TET-2) Graduate + B.Ed/ D.El.Ed. Eligibility test to appoint for the Job of Teacher in Upper Primary school (Std.6 to Std.8). ....
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.... exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 11 of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Guj.25 of 2017), the Government of Gujarat, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby exempts the intra-State supply of services of description as specified in column (3) of the Table below from so much of the State tax leviable thereon under sub-section (1) of section 9 of the said Act, as is in excess of the said tax calculated at the rate as specified in the corresponding entry in column (4) of the said Table, unless specified otherwise, subject to the relevant conditions as specified in the corresponding entry in column (5) of the said Table, namely:- Sl.No. Chapter Description of Service Rate Condition 5. Chapter 99 Services by a Governmental Authority by way of any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Panchayat under article 243G of the Constitution. NIL NIL 7. The applicant has submitted that to claim exemption for the aforesaid entry, it is necessary to provide services by a Governmental Authority by way of any activity in relation to an....
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.... Board is established by the State Government i.e. by the Education Department of Government of Gujarat and it is fully controlled by Members of State Examination Board who are appointed through the offices of Government of Gujarat including President of the Governing Board i.e. Education Minister of State of Gujarat; that thereafter, they would refer to the last and third dimension to the exemption entry talks about any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Panchayat under Article 243G of the Constitution of India which is enlisted below: 1. Agriculture, including agricultural extension. 2. Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation and soil conservation. 3. Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development. 4. Animal husbandry, dairying and poultry. 5. Fisheries. 6. Social forestry and farm forestry. 7. Minor forest produce. 8. Small scale industries, including food processing industries. 9. Khadi, village and cottage industries. 10. Rural housing. 11. Drinking water. 12. Fuel and fodder. 13. Roads, culverts, bridg....
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....lty and staff; "(aa) by an educational institution by way of conduct of entrance examination against consideration in the form of entrance fee;"; NIL NIL Relevant portion of NotificationNo.12/2017-State Tax(Rate) dated 30.06.2017 reads as under: No.(GHN-41)GST-2017/S.11(1)(7)-TH:- In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 11 of the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (Guj.25 of 2017), the Government of Gujarat, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, on the recommendations of the Council, hereby exempts the intra-State supply of services of description as specified in column (3) of the Table below from so much of the State tax leviable thereon under sub-section (1) of section 9 of the said Act, as is in excess of the said tax calculated at the rate as specified in the corresponding entry in column (4) of the said Table, unless specified otherwise, subject to the relevant conditions as specified in the corresponding entry in column (5) of the said Table, namely:- Sl.No. Chapter Description of Service Rate Condition 66. Chapter 99 Services provided - (a) by an education....
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....ng provided to the students and it should be noted that the persons apply for the examination are the students either cleared Std.4th, Std.6th, Std.8th, Std 9th, Std.10th, Std.12th etc. or Graduates or having age 11 years to 13 years; that looking to all the dimensions, it can be said that the applicant is eligible to claim exemption benefit under Entry No.66(a)(aa) of Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax(Rate). The applicant has also stated that they have already received an Order from Authority of Advance Ruling vide No.GUJ/GAAR/R/16/2019 dated 28.08.2019 with respect to previous application for advance ruling and that this is a fresh application for advance ruling with respect to Entry No.5 and Entry No.66(a) and (aa) of Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax(Rate) dated 28.06.2017. 17. The applicant has given additional submission received vide email dated 30.09.2020 wherein they have submitted scanned copies of: (i) Resolution dated 14.11.1966 issued by the Deputy Secretary of Government of Gujarat (in English and Gujarati). (ii) Letter dated June, 1985 of the State Examination Board addressed to the Secretary, Education Department, Gandhinagar regarding re-or....
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.... Services (Department Exam and Panchayat Class III) and (4) Certificates (Drawing, Diploma in Home Science etc.). The type of examinations held by the applicant, the eligibility criteria for appearing in these exams and the benefits of clearing the exams is detailed in para-5 above. The applicant has asked the following question seeking Advance Ruling on the same: "Whether the applicant is eligible to claim exemption benefit under Sr.No.5 and Sr.No.66 (a) & (aa) of Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax(Rate) dated 28.06.2017?" 21. On going through the submissions of the applicant as well as the questions raised by them seeking Advance ruling on the same, we find that the main issue to be examined is whether the services supplied by the applicant as mentioned above are eligible for benefit under Sr.No.5 and Sr.No.66 (a) & (aa) of Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 28.06.2017 or otherwise. But, before examining the issue, we are required to find out under what heading, sub-heading or group, the services supplied by the applicant (conducting of examinations) are covered under, for which we will be required to refer to Notification No.11/2017-Central Ta....
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.... Panchayat under Article 243G of the Constitution is exempted from payment of GST. Therefore, the following conditions are required to be fulfilled in order to be eligible for exemption of the above notification: (1) The applicant should be a Governmental Authority. (2) The services supplied by the applicant should be by way of any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Panchayat under Article 243G of the Constitution. 23. As per Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 28.06.2017, as amended by Notification No.32/2017-Central Tax (Rate) dated 13.10.2017, the definition of 'Governmental Authority' is as under: "(zf) "Governmental Authority" means an authority or a board or any other body, - (i) set up by an Act of Parliament or a State Legislature; or (ii) established by any Government, with 90 per cent. or more participation by way of equity or control, to carry out any function entrusted to a Municipality under article 243 W of the Constitution or to a Panchayat under article 243 G of the Constitution. In this regard, the applicant vide their submission have stated that the Education Department, whic....
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....y wholly owned by the State Government of Gujarat. 24. Next, we are required to find out whether the activities carried out by the applicant i.e. the conducting of examinations are in relation to: (i) any functions entrusted to a municipality under Article 243W of the Constitution of India or (ii) any functions entrusted to a panchayat under Article 243G of the Constitution of India. The same are listed hereunder: Article 243G of the Constitution of India has entrusted the following functions to the panchayats: 1. Agriculture, including agricultural extension. 2. Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation and soil conservation. 3. Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development. 4. Animal husbandry, dairying and poultry. 5. Fisheries. 6. Social forestry and farm forestry. 7. Minor forest produce. 8. Small scale industries, including food processing industries. 9. Khadi, village and cottage industries. 10. Rural housing. 11. Drinking water. 12. Fuel and fodder. 13. Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, ....
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....unctions entrusted to a Panchayat vide Article 243G of the Constitution which reads as "Education, including primary and secondary schools." We also find that the applicant themselves have referred to the said entry in their submission stating that the services provided by them are in relation of discharge of functions covered under the aforementioned Entry at Sr.No.17 only. In view of the above, we need to find out the definition of 'Education' first. Definition of 'Education' as per Dictionary.com is as under: "the act or process of imparting knowledge, especially at a school, college, or university" 26. As per the above definition, Education is the act or process of imparting knowledge, especially at a school, college or university. On comparing the functions of the State Examination with that to the definition of 'Education', we find that the function of the applicant does not pertain to imparting of knowledge at school, college or university but pertains to conducting of various types of examinations. However, since the conduct of examinations pertaining to Primary, secondary and higher secondary schools by the applicant would be indirectly related to Education, su....
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.... (iv) Secondary Scholarship Exam (for students pursuing std.9th) which pertains to scholarship of Rs. 1000/- per year for standards 9th to 10th. (v) National Talent Search Exam Stage-1(NTSE) (for students pursuing std.10th) wherein successful candidate would receive scholarship of Rs. 1250/- per month for 11th and 12th standard and receive scholarship of Rs. 2000/- for under Graduation or Post Graduation and PHd. for National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi. (vi) National Means cum Merit Scholarship-Exams(NMMS-Exam)(for students pursuing std. 8th) wherein successful candidate shall receive scholarship of Rs. 1000/- per month for 10 months in a year for 4 years by Ministry of Human Resource Development, New Delhi(for Std.9, 10, 11 and 12th ). (vii) Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun-Entrance Exam(RIMC-Dehradun) (for students between 11 yrs. 6 months to 13 yrs.old (Only male candidate)) wherein successful candidate gets admission in Rashtriya India Military College, Dehradun. 27. Now, the next issue to be decided is as to whether the applicant is eligible for exemption as available under Sr.No.5 of Notification No.12/....
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....ncluding any mid-day meals scheme sponsored by the Central Government, State Government or Union territory; (iii) security or cleaning or house-keeping services performed in such educational institution; (iv) services relating to admission to, or conduct of examination by, such institution; (v) supply of online educational journals or periodicals: Provided that nothing contained in sub-items (i), (ii) and (iii) of item (b) shall apply to an educational institution other than an institution providing services by way of pre-school education and education up to higher secondary school or equivalent. Provided further that nothing contained in sub-item (v) of item (b) shall apply to an institution providing services by way of,- (i) pre-school education and education up to higher secondary school or equivalent; or (ii) education as a part of an approved vocational education course."; NIL NIL 29. Provisions of Entry No.66(a) and (aa) read, as under: "Services provided by- (a) by an educational institution to its students, faculty and staff; (aa) by an educational institution by way of conduct of entranc....
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....s, would be eligible for certificate for drawing skills, scholarships etc. 31. Thus, it can be seen from the above, that State Examination Board has nothing to do with imparting education i.e. it is not an institution providing/supplying services by way of: (i) pre-school education and education up to higher secondary school or equivalent OR (ii) education as a part of a curriculum for obtaining a qualification recognised by any law for the time being in force OR (iii) education as a part of an approved vocational education course. State Examination Board is a Board established by the Government of Gujarat for the limited purpose of conducting various types of examinations as mentioned above and would therefore not be covered under the definition of 'Educational institution'. In this context, we find that the applicant has referred to the amendment made in respect of Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax(Rate) dated 28.06.2017 vide Notification No.14/2018-Central Tax(Rate) dated 26.07.2018, which reads, as under: "(ii) in paragraph 3, in the Explanation, after clause (iii), the following clause shall be inserted, namely: - "(iv) For rem....