Why is the developer charging me GST when I am the one who gave the land?

Because two supplies move in opposite directions. You transferred development rights to the developer; the developer constructs your share of the project and hands it back. That construction is a service supplied to you, and you have paid for it — in land rather than in cash. Non-monetary consideration is still consideration, so the service is taxable and the developer is required to charge it.

How is the value of that construction service worked out?

Not from the developer's cost. It is benchmarked to what independent buyers were charged for similar apartments in the same project, nearest to the date the development rights were transferred to the developer. That reference date matters: in a project whose prices rose after signing, the value is fixed by the earlier, lower figure. A developer using current prices instead of prices at the transfer date is overcharging.

Can I claim credit for the GST the developer charged me?

Only if you sell your units before the completion certificate, because only then is your own sale a taxable supply that the credit can be set against. Sell after the certificate and your sale is outside GST entirely — there is no output tax, and the credit is simply lost. The GST you paid the developer becomes part of your cost either way.

When does the developer's invoice actually fall due?

The time of supply for the construction service to the landowner is deferred to the completion certificate or first occupation, whichever is earlier — not the date of the agreement and not the date construction started. An invoice raised years earlier is out of time, and one never raised at all does not mean the liability disappeared.

Do I need to register under GST as a landowner?

If you intend to sell your allotted units before the completion certificate, then yes — that is a taxable supply, and without registration you can neither discharge the output tax nor claim the credit for what the developer charged you. Registration has to be in place before the sales happen, not arranged afterwards, which is the practical reason this decision cannot be left to the end of the project.

The Landowner's Share in a JDA: GST and the ITC

Short answer: the developer's construction of your share is a taxable service supplied to you, valued at what independent buyers paid nearest to the date development rights were transferred, and falling due at the completion certificate. The GST on it is recoverable only if you sell before that certificate — and only if you registered in time to do so.

Why there is an invoice at all

The reaction is always the same: I gave the land. Why am I being charged?

Because a JDA contains two supplies moving in opposite directions:

You → developer: development rights over your land.
Developer → you: construction of your share of the finished project.

The second is a service, and you paid for it — in land rather than cash. Non-monetary consideration is still consideration. The service is taxable, and the developer is required to charge it.

This is not the developer being difficult. It is not negotiable between you, and a JDA that is silent on who bears it has simply postponed an argument.

The valuation, and where developers get it wrong

The value is not the developer's construction cost, and it is not the current market price. It is benchmarked to:

the total amount charged for similar apartments in the project from independent buyers, nearest to the date the development rights were transferred to the developer

Three things follow, and each is worth checking on your own invoice:

The reference date is the transfer of development rights — usually early in the project. In a project whose prices rose during construction, the value is fixed at the earlier, lower figure. A developer applying today's price list is overcharging.
"Similar apartments" means comparable units — not the penthouse, not the smallest unit in the block. Which comparable was used is a fair question.
"Independent buyers" excludes related-party bookings and pre-launch allocations to insiders, which are exactly the transactions likely to sit nearest the transfer date.

When it falls due

Time of supply for this service is deferred to the completion certificate or first occupation, whichever is earlier.

That has consequences in both directions. A developer who invoiced you at signature invoiced too early. A developer who has never invoiced at all has not escaped the liability — it crystallises at the certificate, and it will land at the same moment as everything else that lands there.

The credit — and the single date it turns on

Here is where landowners lose real money.

If you sell your allotted units before the completion certificate, that sale is a taxable supply. You charge GST on it, and you can claim input tax credit for the GST the developer charged you on constructing those same units.

If you sell after the certificate, your sale is outside GST under Schedule III — no output tax, and therefore nothing for the credit to be set against. The credit is lost. The GST you paid the developer becomes part of your cost, permanently.

You sell	Your sale	Developer's GST
Before the completion certificate	Taxable — GST charged to buyer	Creditable against that output tax
After the completion certificate	Outside GST	Lost — absorbed into cost

Selling after the certificate is often still the better commercial decision: a completed unit commands a better price, and the buyer prefers it because there is no GST on the purchase. The point is not that one is right. It is that this is a decision with a price attached, and it should be made deliberately rather than discovered.

Registration cannot be left to the end

To sell before the certificate you must be registered — otherwise you can neither charge the output tax nor claim the credit.

Registration has to be in place before those sales happen. A landowner who sells first and seeks advice afterwards has usually foreclosed the credit route without ever having considered it. If there is any prospect of selling before completion, the registration question belongs at the start of the project, not at the end.

What to check

Which date did the developer use to value your construction service, and does it match the transfer of development rights?
Which comparable units were used, and were those buyers genuinely independent?
Has the invoice been raised at the right time — at the certificate, not at signature?
Do you intend to sell before or after the certificate, and has the credit consequence been priced into that?
Are you registered, if selling before completion is even a possibility?

For the whole transaction rather than just your side of it, see how income tax and GST apply to a JDA, scenario by scenario. Your capital gains position on the same transaction runs on a separate track and crystallises at the same certificate. This construction leg is also the cost that disappears where the landowner takes receipts instead of units — the comparison is in area sharing or revenue sharing, and the valuation GST never prescribed. Where the land is held by a co-operative housing society, the same construction leg reaches the members alongside corpus and rent — see what members and societies pay on a redevelopment.

The credit position described here follows from the project being inside the no-credit scheme. Which projects are, and why a shop in one is taxed differently, is in RREP or REP.

This is a working reference, not the statute. For anything you are relying on, confirm the notification text directly.

The landowner's share: the GST the developer charges you, and the credit nobody claims