From a GST point of view, interdisciplinary research fees are treated as supply of services. The taxable value usually includes project based fees, milestone payments, retainers and any related support charges that form part of the same research or advisory mandate.
After the September 2025 GST revision, most research and development services that do not have any special exemption notification continue to fall under the standard 18% slab. Registered business recipients can generally claim input tax credit when these services are used for making taxable supplies or for business decision making, subject to normal ITC conditions.
The table below gives the prevailing standard GST rate for SAC code 998130.