GST exempt on Prasadam served

New Delhi July 12: A relief was given yesterday. Finance Ministry has clarified that free food supplied by religious institutions don't include GST. The religious institutions include
* Temples
* Mosques
* Churches
* Gurudwaras

currently, these institutions offer Prasadam as free for visitors. However, the ministry has said that GST would be applicable on the inputs used for preparing these items such as Ghee, sugar etc.

They have said that no raw materials cannot be exempt based on final product prepared because it is a multi-stage tax and inputs can be used in many ways.

Earlier many religious institutions have demanded an exemption of GST on raw materials so that the burden on institutions becomes less. However the Government has rejected their proposal citing misuse and exemptions would lead to distortion in the system.