Temple earnings have doubled in seven years. India’s richest temple trust Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) will likely pay less than 1.5 percent goods and services (GST) in FY25. A controversy over claims of the Centre levying GST on temples has been raging, with the opposition Congress and the BJP trading barbs. In November 2024, Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, one of the richest in the country, was slapped a notice for pending tax payments. Media reports indicate that the demand was just Rs 1.57 crore for a seven-year period, while the temple is estimated to have earned Rs 700 crore in 2014 alone. In FY24, Vaishno Devi earned 37 percent of its income from donations. The trust earned 19 percent, or Rs 129.6 crore, from sales in FY24 and Rs 84 crore, or 12 percent, in rental income. The tax liability, in terms of GST, has been around Rs 130 crore in five years since FY21. GST is levied on the renting of premises if room charges are over Rs 1,000 and if community hall or open area fees are over £ 10,000. Prasad and religious ceremonies are exempt from GST collections. This income was over a third in the case of TTD and Vaish no Devi.