End to bank freebies? Get set to pay GST on credit cards, ATM, cheque books

If the banks are charged GST for free services, the customers may have to pay a higher tax for holding a minimum balance account

Soon, banks may pass the cost of goods and services tax (GST) on 'free services' to customers who maintain a minimum balance in their accounts. Reeling under a pile of bad loans and faced with the prospect of paying GST on ‘free services’ given to customers, private and public banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and State Bank of India (SBI) are considering passing on this cost to them, according to a report published in Economics Times. 

In October, BloombergQuint reported that the tax department had asked around 19 banks to pay more than Rs 150 billion tax on free