GST on land lease: High Court ruling upsets status quo

The Bombay High Court has ruled that the one-time premium payable for long-term lease (30 years or more) of land would attract goods and services tax (GST) as it constituted ‘supply’ under the GST Act. Experts said that the order went against the accepted principle of considering long-term leases as “sale of immovable property”, which is outside the purview of GST. Short-term lease (less than 30 y…