GST Impact on Real Estate

What is the impact of GST on real estate buyers and investors?

As the perception of the sector is said to have improved, the prices are likely to drop around one to three per cent if it all they do, according to a report by Edelweiss Securities. 

The taxation earlier was too complicated for buyers. For instance, buyers were earlier liable to pay taxes depending on the construction status of the property and the state where it is located. Buyers also had to pay VAT, service tax, stamp duty and registration charges on purchase of an under-construction property. However, if the purchase was for a completed property, the tax applicable were stamp duty and registration charge. Furthermore, since VAT, stamp duty and registration charges were state levies, each state specified its own figures. Service tax was a central levy and was charged on construction. So the calculation of taxes was very tedious in the earlier regime. GST charges all under-construction properties at 12 per cent of the property value (Residential Property). This excludes stamp duty and registration charges. No indirect tax is applicable on sale of ready-to-move-in properties hence the tax will not apply to those. The biggest takeaway is that GST is a simple tax that applies to the overall purchase price.

A developer could take input credits on sale of under construction property against the taxes that are paid by the buyer. Earlier, VAT and service tax used to account for nearly nine per cent of the ticket price of the property. Since that will be lower than the GST applied to the sector, the builder will have to pass on the benefit of the price reduction to the buyer. The price reduction is on account of the input tax credits that the builder enjoys.

How will GST impact property prices?

Currently, the sale of land and buildings have been kept out of the ambit of GST but it is expected to be taxed within a period of a year. Construction of land and building will benefit from the rates declared for cement, bricks, and iron under GST.

Cement will be taxed at the rate of 28% under GST. It is higher the current average rate of tax around 23-24% but a lot of additional taxes charged over the average rate would be subsumed under GST.  Iron rods and pillars used in the construction of buildings is charged at the rate of 18% which is similar to the current average rate of 19.5%.

Bricks used in the construction of buildings and houses is taxed under GST at the rate of 28% except for the rate of ceramic building bricks which is kept under 5%. Currently, all bricks except the ceramic bricks are charged an average tax rate of 25-26% inclusive of all state and central level taxes. Logistics cost of transportation of bricks, cement or iron is going to reduce through the subsuming and streamlining of taxes.

In Real estate sector, there is a huge percentage of each project expenditure goes unrecorded on the books currently. GST will cut down this percentage due to cloud storing of invoicing. Real estate sector will also benefit with new tax law having a positive effect on all ancillary industries.

Benefit to Developers

The biggest game changer however will be introduction of Input Tax Credit, whereby credit of taxes paid at each stage of construction can be claimed by the builder and benefits to be passed on to the consumers. If you are a developer, you were earlier charged for Central Excise Duty, VAT and entry taxes collected by the state on construction material costs. Further, you had to pay a 15% tax on services like labour, architect fees, approval charges, legal charges etc. Your tax burden was transferred to the buyer eventually. However, under the new regime, the changes in construction costs are not grave. Furthermore, reduced cost of logistics will result in reducing expenses as well. The input tax credits will also help you increase profit margins and it will be a simpler tax to work with.

Benefit to Buyers

A simple and transparent tax applied on the purchase price is the biggest take- away for property buyers. Under the GST regime, all under-construction properties will be charged at 12% (excluding stamp duty and registration charges). It will not apply to completed and ready-to-move-in projects, as there are no indirect taxes applicable in the sale of such properties.

VAT (with rates differing from one state to another) and service tax together accounted for 7-9% of the ticket price for a residential property, which is 3-4% lower than the GST rate. Due to information asymmetry, however, consumers were largely unaware of how VAT and service tax are calculated — definitely, the entire tax calculation was too complex for laypeople to understand.

Any real estate product comprises of three expense components, namely land, material and labour or service costs. VAT is calculated on material cost, and service tax is calculated on labour and service cost. It is very difficult for buyers to ascertain what components were included for calculation of VAT and service tax.

The implementation of GST makes the calculation much simpler, since the buyer has to pay only a single tax. Also, the builder must pass on the benefit of the price reduction he enjoys due to input tax credit to the buyer.