Sale, not lease to avoid 18% GST
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has decided to sell all its newly constructed properties instead of letting them out on 99-year leases. This is to avoid payment of 18% goods and services tax (GST) that lease deeds would attract. There is no clarity officially on whether this policy will also apply to open plots, but sources in the AMC said it will.
The sources said they have been trying to dispose of many properties for three years but buyers have stayed away due to the GST issue. They thus resolved to sell such properties outright.
In the last few years, the AMC auctioned off 99-year-leases on four plots for Rs 240 crore but got a demand for 18% GST, Rs 43 crore.
