Good news Maharashtra residents! Get ready for a sigh of relief! From today on, you won’t have to pay service tax (currently 12.36%) on your monthly apartment maintenance charges. This decision came from the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) after a case involving Tahnee Heights, a residential society in Nariman Point emerged.

Under this new rule, if you are a flat-owner or owner of a commercial space within a housing society registered under the Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, you’re exempted from paying service tax against the society maintenance amount charged every month.

In a housing society, maintenance amount is typically collected by society RWAs (Resident Welfare Association) to pay for the community’s administrative needs such as water, lift repair, security, electricity for common areas and maintenance of gym, swimming pool.

We’re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that this ruling soon extends to other parts of India. For now, if you want to know how much service tax you need to pay, you can read all about it here.

For more information on this update, please read the news article here.