Foodgrain traders call for strike against GST over rent on commercial property

MADURAI: The Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Merchants Association Limited (TNFMAL) has condemned levying GST under the Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM) for commercial property rentals and called for a statewide strike on Friday against the move, which came into effect on October 10.

Per the notification, if the tenant is a composition dealer and the landlord is unregistered, the tenant must pay 18 per cent GST under RCM and cannot claim input tax credit on this payment.

SP Jeyaprakasam, the advisor to TNFMAL, said the business stakeholders could not cope with this new tax burden. He said that even if the building is free of rent, the market rental rate has to be determined and paid through RCM.