Yoga Camps for Fee: SC Upholds CESTAT Order for Service Tax on Patanjali Trust

In a setback to the Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, the Supreme Court on Friday upheld an appellate tribunal's ruling that the organisation is liable to pay service tax for charging an entry fee for organising Yoga camps, both residential and non-residential.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Friday upheld an order passed by an Appellate Tribunal that Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust is liable to pay service tax for charging an entry fee for organising yoga camps, both residential and non-residential. A bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka declined to interfere with the decision of the Allahabad bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT). The tribunal passed the order in October 2023.

The bench comprising Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said the tribunal has rightly held that yoga in camps for a fee is a service. Dismissing the appeal filed by Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, the bench said, “We do not find any reason to interfere with the impugned order.” The tribunal has noted that a fee was collected from the participants by way of donation and the yoga camps organised by Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust, which charges participation fees, come under the category of “health and fitness service”. The tribunal said it attracts service tax.

The tribunal noted that the organisation, working under yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Acharya Balkrishna, was engaged in providing yoga training at various residential and non-residential camps. The Commissioner of Customs and Central Excise, Meerut range, has raised the service tax demand of approximately Rs 4.5 crore from October 2006 to March 2011, with penalty and interest. The organisation had argued that it was providing services, which are for curing ailments and it is not taxable under “health and fitness service”.