IAF Against Rs 100 Cr GST Bill on Import of Aircraft Parts: Report

After approaching the DRI for exemption from the Rs 100 cr bill, the IAF will now take the ministerial approach.

The Indian Air Force has requested the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to reconsider the more than Rs 100 crore of integrated GST (IGST) levied on various imported items shown as “parts of aircraft” in its books, a report from Economic Times suggests.

The matter, according to the report, will likely be taken up to the ministerial level.

The ET report quotes three people in the knowledge of the matter, who say that the IAF’s contention is that the concerned items fall under the customs tariffs heading 8803 which have either nil or 5 percent of IGST levied on them. The concerned items, according to the ET report are electrical and mechanical parts, antennas and electronic spares.

The DRI, on the other hand, says that these parts are not “parts of aircraft” exempted under the harmonised system nomenclature followed by GST while classifying goods in the five tax slabs.

The IAF, according to ET sources, plans to take the matter further as the money is needed to buy other important equipment.

The IAF, however, did not respond to ET’s mail seeking a comment on the same.

The DRI has said that all government agencies are required to pay IGST on imports. However, one of the people quoted by the daily said that IAF claim the tax money back from the government even if they have to pay up.

(With inputs from The Economic Times.)