Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a liaison office, set up in Mumbai, as part of diplomatic relationships to promote trade and economic relationships between India and the UAE, will need to obtain GST registration. 

The chamber did not succeed in its appeal filed with the Appellate Authority for Advance Rulings (AAAR), Maharashtra bench. While the appellate authority agreed that the chamber is not an intermediary, it held that the host of activities carried out by it, that include event-based support services, are mixed in nature. These comprise taxable and non-taxable services and will come under the ambit of taxable ‘supply’. “The appellant will have to seek GST registration and discharge its IGST (integrated goods and services tax) liability, on the amount received from its Dubai head office,” held the two-member bench of the AAAR.

TOI had reported on the order of the AAR that was passed in May 2021. In its appeal, the chamber submitted that it was set up as a liaison office in pursuance to the meetings held between the Indian Prime Minister and the UAE President. It added that the liaison office, like its Dubai head office, is also a non-profit entity and is not involved in any commercial activities, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the RBI and the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).

It is only engaged in liaison activities like attending and representing its head office in various seminars, conferences and trade fairs; connecting businesses in India with business partners in the UAE and vice versa, and organising events and interactions with Indian stakeholders for sharing information about Dubai. It does not receive any fee or consideration from either Indian or Dubai business entities. It merely receives consideration from its Dubai head office. The Chamber pointed out that the liaison office and the head office are one and the same legal entity. However, the AAAR observed that the liaison office and the head office are two separate entities under the GST laws. 

Source: The Times of India 
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/aaar-dubai-chamber-to-register-under-gst/articleshow/92532445.cms

                                     

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