Membership GST liability

This ruling delivers a decisive blow to the long-invoked principle of mutuality in GST jurisprudence. 

The Authority has unequivocally held that, post the retrospective amendment to Section 7, associations and their members are to be treated as distinct persons, thereby bringing subscription-based interactions squarely within the GST net.

Even more significantly, the ruling draws a sharp distinction between exempt healthcare services and taxable member-centric activities, holding that the ultimate objective of public welfare cannot dilute the taxability of discrete supplies such as seminars, workshops, and membership services.

In essence, the ruling reinforces that form of activity, not intent, drives GST liability.