The government will refund Goods and Services Tax (GST) paid on certain items purchased by charitable and religious institutions, for distributing free food to public.
The Ministry of Culture stated that, the Centre will invest as much as Rs.325 crore in two financial years starting 2018-19, on a scheme of financial assistance under Sewa Bhoj Yojna. The guidelines in detail relating to the implementation of the scheme, will be provided separately.
Under the scheme, charitable bodies will get a reimbursement of Centre’s share of GST and the Centre’s share of Integrated GST, on certain items used to prepare free food for public. Further, the gurudwaras will now be benefited, as they can now claim tax credit on raw materials used to prepare food for langar sewa.