GST on Education in India: School Fees, Coaching and Online Courses

Is GST applicable on education and school fees?

No GST applies to services an educational institution provides to its own students, faculty and staff, so tuition, admission and exam fees charged by a recognised school or college are exempt. Private coaching, test preparation and most online courses do not count as educational institutions under GST, so their fees are generally taxed at 18%, the standard rate.

The exemption sits in entry 66 of Notification 12/2017-Central Tax (Rate). The CBIC education services flyer explains that an "educational institution" means an institution providing services by way of:

• School education: pre-school education and education up to higher secondary school or equivalent.
• Recognised qualifications: education as part of a curriculum for obtaining a qualification recognised by any law in force, such as degree courses at colleges and universities.
• Approved vocational courses: courses run by an industrial training institute or centre affiliated to the national or state council for vocational training, or a Modular Employable Skill Course run by a person registered with the Directorate General of Training.

The same flyer is clear about the line: "private coaching centres or other unrecognized institutions, though self-styled as educational institutions, would not be treated as educational institutions under GST". It also notes that a qualification recognised only by a foreign country's law is not covered.

GST on education at a glance: fees and school items

Most fees a recognised school or college charges its students are exempt; coaching and private courses are taxable; school goods follow their own goods rates. Use this table as a starting point and confirm your own case with a CA.

Even when fees are exempt, parents still expect a numbered receipt for every payment, and the accounts office needs a clean record of who has paid. Our school management software handles online fee collection, receipts and defaulter reports in one place.

Is GST charged on coaching classes and tuition fees?

Yes. Fees charged by a private coaching institute or tuition centre are taxable, generally at 18%, because the coaching does not itself lead to a qualification recognised by law. The CBIC flyer puts it directly: "Training given by private coaching institutes would not be covered as such training does not lead to grant of a recognized qualification."

• Entrance exam coaching for engineering, medical or government jobs
• Tuition centres for school subjects, even if the students are in Class 6 to 12
• Spoken English, computer and personality development classes
• Short certificate courses that are not an approved vocational course

A school's own classes are exempt because the school is the educational institution. The same teacher running evening batches under a separate coaching business is a different supplier, and that business is taxable once it crosses the registration threshold.

Is GST applicable on online courses?

It depends on who provides the course and what it leads to. An online degree or diploma that is part of a curriculum for a qualification recognised by Indian law can fall within the educational institution exemption; an online course from a private platform that only issues its own certificate is generally taxable at 18%.

• Recognised university, recognised qualification: check whether the programme itself is recognised under Indian law; the mode of delivery does not change the test.
• Private platform or coaching app: recorded lectures, live classes and test series are coaching, so GST applies once the provider is registered.
• Bundles: courses sold with printed books, devices or study kits raise classification questions; ask your CA how to bill them.

GST for coaching institutes: registration and invoices

A coaching institute generally needs GST registration once its aggregate turnover in a financial year crosses twenty lakh rupees in Haryana and most other states. Section 22 of the CGST Act sets this limit, with a lower limit of ten lakh rupees for special category states. How aggregate turnover is counted has its own rules, so confirm with your CA before you decide.

1. Before registration: do not charge GST. Section 32 of the CGST Act says an unregistered person shall not collect any amount by way of tax. Issue plain numbered receipts.
2. After registration: issue tax invoices with the details Rule 46 of the CGST Rules lists, including a consecutive serial number that is unique for the financial year.
3. Show GST clearly: state whether batch fees include or exclude GST on your fee card, website and app.
4. Instalments: ask your CA when GST becomes due on advance and instalment payments for long courses.

If your institute collects fees through its own coaching institute app, make sure the fee screen, the reminder and the invoice all show the same GST treatment.

Is GST charged on school bus and transport fees?

Transport of students, faculty and staff supplied to a school (pre-school to higher secondary) is exempt under entry 66, and a school's own transport fee to its students generally falls within its exempt services to students. A proviso limits the transport, catering, security and cleaning exemption to schools, so the same services supplied to a college or university are not covered by it.

• Bus operator billing the school: exempt when the school provides education up to higher secondary.
• School billing parents for its own buses: part of the school's services to its students.
• Operator collecting directly from parents: advance rulings in different cases have reached different results, so get your CA's view on your contract.
• College transport contracts: not covered by the school-level exemption; check the applicable rate.

Safety and permit rules for school buses are a separate subject; see our guide to school bus rules in India.

GST on uniforms, notebooks and stationery from 22 September 2025

From 22 September 2025, notebooks, exercise books, pencils, crayons, sharpeners, erasers, printed maps, atlases and globes are nil-rated, and geometry and colour boxes are taxed at 5%. The 56th GST Council press release lists these changes under education and says goods rate changes apply from 22 September 2025.

• Erasers: 5% to nil.
• Exercise books, graph books, laboratory notebooks and notebooks: 12% to nil.
• Pencils, crayons, pastels and pencil sharpeners: 12% to nil.
• Printed maps, atlases, wall maps and globes: 12% to nil.
• Mathematical, geometry and colour boxes: 12% to 5%.
• Uniforms and other apparel: 5% up to a sale value of two thousand five hundred rupees per piece, and 18% above it.

Is GST charged on hostel fees?

Hostel and boarding fees charged by a school, or by an institution providing a qualification recognised by law, to its own students are exempt. The CBIC flyer says lodging and boarding charges collected by such institutions from their students for hostel accommodation "shall therefore, not attract GST".

Private hostels and PGs, including those near coaching hubs, follow a different rule. Circular 228/22/2024-GST confirms that from 15 July 2024, accommodation services with a value of up to twenty thousand rupees per person per month are exempt, provided the stay is for a minimum continuous period of ninety days. Above that value, or for shorter stays, GST applies. Whether mess charges count towards that limit depends on how the supply is structured, so confirm with your CA.

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