TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
GST taxability on hostel services provided to foreign university students
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....ST taxability on hostel services provided to foreign university students <br> Query (Issue) Started By: - TEAM GST Dated:- 8-9-2026 Goods and Services Tax - GST <br> Got 2 Replies <br> GST<br> <br> Dear Experts, Seek your opinion on the GST taxability of hostel accommodation services provided by an Indian University to students of a foreign university who are staying in India. The students fulfil ....
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....the following conditions: * The accommodation is provided for a minimum continuous period of 90 days; and * The hostel accommodation charges do not exceed Rs. 20,000 per person per month. In this regard, we would appreciate your views on the GST treatment for the following periods: * Period prior to 15 July 2024: Whether the benefit of exemption is available for the period from 1 July 2017 to 1....
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....4 July 2024 in view of the regularization of GST liability on an "as is where is" basis for qualifying accommodation services under Circular No. 228/22/2024-GST dated 15 July 2024. * Period from 15 July 2024 onwards: Whether the hostel accommodation services qualify for exemption under Notification No. 4/2024-Central Tax (Rate) dated 12 July 2024, subject to fulfilment of the prescribed condition....
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....s relating to the monthly value of accommodation and minimum continuous period of stay. particularly considering the fact that the recipients are students of a foreign university, while the hostel accommodation is provided by an Indian University in India. --Reply By: Sanjeev Agarwal The Reply: I would support the University's exemption position. For 1 July 2017-14 July 2024: the qualifying hos....
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....tel accommodation is covered by the specific "as is where is" regularisation in paragraph 9.4 of Circular No. 228/22/2024-GST. From 15 July 2024: the qualifying hostel accommodation falls squarely within Entry 12A, subject to the Rs. 20,000/person/month and 90-continuous-day conditions. The fact that the occupants are students of a foreign university, rather than students of the Indian University,....
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.... should not by itself affect the exemption, because Entry 12A does not impose such a recipient-status condition. The principal residual risk would therefore not be the foreign-university status of the students. It would be factual: whether the supply is genuinely an accommodation service, whether the Rs. 20,000 threshold is correctly determined, and whether the 90-day continuous-period requirement....
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.... is demonstrably satisfied. The official CBIC Circular is particularly clear on both the prospective exemption and the retrospective regularisation. Risk assessment: Strong / reasonably defensible, subject to the above documentation and assuming there are no bundled services or unusual contractual arrangements. --- Sub-Reply By: Sadanand Bulbule The Sub-Reply: Refer my article dated 29/08/2026 ....
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....on the subject titled below: DE-MYSTIFYING GST ON PAYING GUEST ACCOMMODATION <br>***<br> Discussion Forum - Knowledge Sharing....