Coaching centres demand finance minister to reduce GST rate

Representatives of major coaching institutes have met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and demanded to either remove the 18 per cent GST on coaching centres or reduce it to the lowest tax slab.

The delegation, which met the finance minister in New Delhi on Wednesday, also underlined the adverse impact of such a high rate of the goods and services tax (GST) currently on coaching centres.

The centres demanded the finance minister to either scrap the 18 per cent GST on coaching education or reduce it to the lowest GST slab, said Lalit Maheshwari, an official at Allen Career Institute, Kota.

The removal of high GST slab or reducing it to the lowest slab would directly benefit lakhs of students and their parents across the country.

Around 50 lakh students every year write entrance examinations for admission in engineering and medical collages and almost 25 lakh of them join coaching institutes for preparation, the delegation told the finance minister, he said.

The delegation also submitted a draft of coaching institutes wherein the objectives, various types of taxes upon coaching institutes and effects of GST upon students have been elaborated, he added.

Sitharaman responded positively and asked coaching representatives to convey their demand to finance ministers of their respective states.

Sitharaman told the delegation that if finance ministers of each states raise the issue of GST on coaching, the GST Council would consider over it positively, Maheshwari said.

The delegation, led by parliamentarian Punam Mahajan, comprised representatives of various coaching institutes from Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Madhya Pradesh, he added.