GST on recovery of higher education cost from employee

Anoop Inani (Employee) (94 Points)

26 July 2021  

Hello All,

I have a question on applicability of GST on the below transaction:

Facts - i) Company is a SEZ unit

ii) Company provides an employee higher education programme to senior level employees wherein a specified cost (let's say 20 lakhs) of the course will be sponsored by the company.

Any cost over and above 20 lakhs will need to be borne by employee

iii) A employee opts for a course of value 30 lakhs

iv) The institute normally charges GST on such course, however, considering that the invoice for course will be billed directly to company, being a SEZ unit, it is ready to provide GST exemption on 30 lakhs after executing a LUT (Letter of undertaking)

v) The Company will pay 30 lakhs to institute and recover 10 lakhs from employee (employee to pay that amount through bank transfer)

Questions:

i) Is GST chargeable on 10 lakhs recovered from employee

ii) If yes, what is the value on which GST to be charged - 10 lakhs or 30 lakhs

iii) Any possible model wherein we recover the cost of 10 lakhs without triggering GST implication.

Any leads to above questions will be highly appreciated

Thankyou