Goa Tourism Concludes Successful Participation in Arabian Travel Market 2023

The Goa Tourism delegation's participation in the 2023 Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai was successful Shri Shawn Mendes, OSD to Hon'ble Minister of Tourism, Goa; Shri Suneel Anchipaka, Director of Tourism, Goa; and Shri Pradeep Binnar, Asst. Director, Department of Tourism, Goa formed the delegation that was headed by Shri Rohan Khaunte, Hon'ble Minister of Tourism, IT & EC, and Printing & Stationery, Goa.

The delegation met with the CEOs of well-known airlines, tourism organisations, hospitality chains, and destination management firms in a number of high-level sessions. Exploring financial prospects for Goa's infrastructure development and boosting visitor numbers by partnering with different airlines was the main goal of these sessions. The Honourable Minister also talked about ways to advertise Goa using their fly + hotel packages.

The CEO of Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), H.E. Issam Kazim, attended the meeting with Goa Tourism as w e l l . T h e y d i s c u s s e d t h e interchange of events and festivals, best practices, and investment potential at the meeting. The Red Sea and Amaala, two of Saudi Arabia's most popular tourist attractions, were among the knowledge-sharing sessions in which the delegation took part. They also talked about the design of the projected smart city in Saudi Arabia's Tabuk Province. Additionally, Goa Tourism met with Emirates Airlines, which is situated in Dubai. They talked about the potential for starting direct flights between Goa and Dubai. Goa is already scheduled for the summer on the airline's 'flydubai' subsidiary's four weekly flights between Dubai and Goa.

The delegation also met with Etihad Airways, which is based in Abu Dhabi, to discuss working together to promote Goa as a tourist destination. To increase the number of tourists visiting the state, they talked about the potential for opening a new route linking Goa and Abu Dhabi.

Qatar Airways and Goa Tourism also had a meeting The team talked about the potential for working together with the airline to promote tourism in the state as the airline plans to expand its frequency to Goa.

The delegation also had a meeting with Saudia, the biggest airline in Saudi Arabia. They talked about the potential for starting direct flights between Saudi Arabia and Goa and fostering travel between the two places.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Goa Tourism and Jeddah-based Al Tayyar Travel Group at ATM 2023. The MoU intends to develop tourism to the state of Goa and promote it as a destination in the Saudi Arabian market.

WHEN ARE WE LIABLE TO PAY GST – THE FINER PRINT

E v e r y t a x p a y e r b y n o w understands that he or she is liable to pay GST whenever there is either of sale of goods or a provision of service. Some others may be under the presumption that every income or receipt is liable to GST. In this edition we will try to analyse the ingredients which make a transaction liable to GST.

As has been mentioned in previous editions, the edifice of GST is built on the concept of “Supply” Supply is explained or defined in Section 7 of the GST act , where the “scope of supply” is set out. Only if a transaction meets all the ingredients set out in Section 7, will that transaction be liable to GST.

Firstly, for there to be supply, there must be Goods or Services or Both. Goods have been defined to be as every kind of movable property. Thus, any thing which can be owned and which can move, is covered under the ambit of the word “goods”. Services has been defined to mean anything other than goods. When read together, one sees that the lawmakers have tried to cover virtually everything under the sun either as goods or services.

After casting the net this wide, the law then prunes the list of what can be considered to be either goods or services. The following are some of the major items deemed to be neither goods not services: a. Money – It was essential to keep money out of the ambit of goods, since if this was not done, then there would be GST impact on both sides of the transaction. For egs: when you sell say a mobile phone, you levy GST on the sale price of the mobile phone. But if even money were “goods” then the person buying the mobile phone i.e. the person “supplying” money, would also have to charge GST on this money. Further, other purely financial transactions like loans etc would also be liable to GST. b. Securities - this covers all forms of shares, scrips, mutual funds, debentures etc. c. Services by employee to an employer, under a contract of employment – The definition of services is so wide that it even c o v e r s t h e w o r k d o n e b y employees in their employment, for their employers. This would result in each employee earning salary above the threshold, to register under GST and pay GST. Hence, it was very necessary to remove this from the definition of services d. Services by any court or Tribunal established under any law for the time being in force e. Functions performed by the Members of Parliament, Members of State Legislature, Members of

P a n c h a y a t s , M e m b e r s o f Municipalities and Members of other local authorities; f. Duties performed by any person who holds any post in pursuance of the provisions of the Constitution in that capacity; or g. Duties performed by any person as a Chairperson or a Member or a Director in a body established by the Central G o v e r n m e n t o r a S t a t e Government or local authority and who is not deemed as an e m p l o y e e b e f o r e t h e commencement of this clause. h. Services of funeral, burial, crematorium or mortuary including transportation of the deceased. i. Sale of land – If we look closely, the definition of goods covers all movable properties, and the definition of services says anything other than goods. Thus, services covers all that is NOT movable property, i e services definition covers IMMOVABLE property also i.e. land and building The lawmakers never intended for GST to be levied on sale of land, hence to remove this anomaly, sale of land has been deemed to be out of being goods or services. It may be noted, that the law only covers “sale of land” and anything short of “sale” by conveyance, may be liable to GST (egs renting, rights to explore minerals etc) j. Sale of building after receiving completion certificate –For much the same reason as above, this item is considered to be neither supply of goods nor services However, there is a catch: Here, only sale of those buildings are covered which are sold after receiving completion certificate i.e. if even one rupee of advance is received prior to the unit receiving completion certificate, then the entire sale price of the unit would be liable to GST. k. Supply of goods from a place in the non-taxable territory to another place in the nontaxable territory without such goods entering into India – This is commonly known as out-and-out sale or drop-shipment. For egs: Goods of China directly shipped and sold to a buyer in USA< without the goods ever entering India. l. Alcoholic liquor for human consumption

So, for a transaction to be liable for GST, we must first check if there are any goods or services involved, and they must fit in the above definition In the next edition, we will see further conditions needed to satisfy the definition of “ supply” and therefore making a transaction liable to GST