While the model bylaws under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act have placed a limit of Rs 25,000 on transfer fees, in reality the fees run into a lakh or more per transfer and this has mostly led housing co-ops into GST fold.
Nearly 70,000 co-operative housing societies (CHS) in Maharashtra including 50,000 in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), will have to register under GST as their annual turnovers exceed the threshold of Rs 20 lakh, reports Times of India.
Transfer fees charged by the CHS and paid by incoming and outgoing members when a flat in the CHS is sold, contribute towards a society’s annual collection.
Collections from transfer fees mean that even CHSs housing the middle classes may have a turnover of over the threshold of Rs 20 lakh and would need to register under GST.