• Notification Date: 03-12-2022
• Notification No: N/A

PHD Chamber seeks Single GST Rate for Hotels at 12% in Budget 23

The government is about to present the union budget for FY24 on 1 February 2023. Hence, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry has suggested the government set the highest limit of GST on hotel rooms at 12 percent. At present, rooms priced up to ₹7,500 per day attract a GST of 12%. Rooms charging above ₹7,500 a day come under the 18% tax slab. 

“The 18% GST category for hotels with room rates of more than 7,500 rupees (US$100) must be abolished and merged with the 12% GST category. Gradually, GST should be brought down further, below 10 percent with full set-offs in line with global trends," the industry body said in their pre-budget expectations. 

PHDCCI has urged the Centre to declare industry status to the tourism sector. It has appealed to the Centre to set up a corpus fund for tourism infrastructure to underwrite their national industry status by compensating the states for any losses. It said that it is recommendable to establish a centralized approval system for most common approvals, licenses & permits on an E- approvals basis to speed-up investments, and granted within a pre-defined frame or deemed to be approved and granted within a pre-defined frame or deemed to be approved. 

The body has also urged the Centre to make a provision for one country-one road tax for tourist transportation. This move will help to encourage seamless road travel across India. It also requested the creation of a provision for income tax set off for Indians for holidays and for conducting conferences and exhibitions within India. 

The Chamber also suggested the creation of a global bidding fund for bidding starting with a corpus of ₹100 crores in support of the demand made by the MICE industry. It will help enable Indian companies to bid for meetings, incentives, conferences, and events.