Madras High Court Quashes GST Notice To Queen Mira School, Says Assessment Must Precede Recovery

The Madras High Court on 24 September quashed a show cause notice issued to Queen Mira International School, while granting the department liberty to initiate fresh proceedings in accordance with law. Justice C. Saravanan held that the GST authorities must first assess the tax liability of an unregistered person under the prescribed statutory mechanism before proceeding against such person for tax recovery. The Bench observed: “Under the GST enactment, the Department has to first invoke the...

Commissioner's Approval Alone Cannot Sustain Departmental Appeal Below ₹20 Lakh: GSTAT Ghaziabad

On 1 October, the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), Ghaziabad, held that a departmental appeal cannot be maintained when the disputed tax demand is below the prescribed monetary limit unless the Revenue establishes a recognised exception to the limit. A Division Bench comprising Judicial Member Dr. Sanjay Kumar Chandhariyavi and Technical Member Sungita Sharma dismissed the Revenue's appeal involving a disputed amount of Rs. 11.88 lakh at the threshold, without examining its...

GST Not Payable On Amounts Recovered From Employees For Canteen Meals: Gujarat AAR

The Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling has ruled that GST is not payable on amounts recovered by Torrent Pharmaceuticals Ltd. from employees towards canteen meals at its Indrad plant, R&D facility and corporate office.The AAR held that the deductions made from employees do not amount to a “supply” under Section 7 of the CGST Act. The Authority observed, “We hold that the deduction made by the applicant from the employees who are availing food in the factory/corporate office would not...

GSTAT Lucknow Quashes ₹6.62 Lakh Demand Against Jai Enterprises, Says Suspicion Can't Prove Tax Evasion

The Lucknow Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) on 16 September held that tax and penalty cannot be sustained merely on an inference that goods had been transported earlier or that e-way bills had been reused without evidence establishing either. A Two-Member Bench comprising Judicial Member Santosh Kumar Srivastava and Technical Member Arvind Kumar allowed Jai Enterprises' appeal and set aside the order of the Additional Commissioner Grade-2 (Appeals), Kanpur, which...

GSTAT Ernakulam Holds 7-Day Limit Mandatory For Penalty Orders, Quashes Order Passed After 445 Days

The Ernakulam Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), on 16 September held that the seven-day time limit under Section 129(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Kerala Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for passing a penalty order is mandatory. A Bench comprising Vice-President Subramanya Rayaprol and Technical Member Ramamoorthi Sriram allowed the appeal filed by GMG Electric, Kochi against the order of the Joint Commissioner (Appeals), SGST...

GST Appeal Pre-Deposit Has No Impact On ITC Blocking Under Rule 86A Of CGST Rules: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that making the mandatory pre-deposit for filing a GST appeal does not, by itself, require unblocking of Input Tax Credit (ITC) blocked under Rule 86A of the GST Rules. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy clarified that although the pre-deposit results in a deemed stay on recovery of the balance demand under Section 107(7) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act), it does not affect a separate blocking order under Rule 86A, and disposed of a...

Calcutta High Court Quashes ₹1.68 Crore GST Demand Against SREI Equipment Finance After CIRP

The Calcutta High Court on 1 October allowed SREI Equipment Finance Limited's petition and quashed the Rs. 1.68 crore GST demand raised for alleged excess availment of integrated goods and services tax (IGST) input tax credit on imported goods for FY 2021-22. Justice Aryak Dutt held that tax authorities cannot initiate or continue proceedings for pre-resolution plan dues that were not lodged during the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), as approval of the resolution plan...

Punjab & Haryana High Court Lays Down Guidelines For ITC Reversal Where Supplier Fails To Deposit GST

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of Section 16(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act but held that the provision cannot be used mechanically to make a purchasing dealer reverse input tax credit (ITC) merely because the selling dealer failed to deposit tax with the government.A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor held that Section 16(2)(c), read with Section 155, cannot be treated as a...

Gujarat High Court Rejects Writ Plea, Finds GST Officer Was Authorised To Verify Vehicle Carrying Goods

The Gujarat High Court has rejected Shreeji Steel's writ challenge to GST confiscation proceedings after finding that the officer who physically verified its vehicle was authorised under Rule 138B of the CGST Rules.A bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati also held that the company had an alternative statutory remedy of appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act. The court observed, “Upon examination of the documents on record, we find that there is no violation of the said...

Cinema Operator Cannot Use State-Set Ticket Price Limits To Avoid Passing On GST Cut To Consumers: GSTAT Delhi

The GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), Principal Bench at Delhi, has held that a cinema operator cannot rely on State Government price regulations to avoid passing on the benefit of a GST rate reduction to viewers.A single member coram of Judicial Member Justice Mayank Kumar Jain, observed that the orders relied on by Alankar Cinema did not prohibit it from reducing ticket prices after GST on cinema tickets was cut from 18% to 12% from January 1, 2019. The tribunal observed, “In the absence of...

Outdoor Playground Equipment Attracts 5% GST, Gym Equipment 18%: Gujarat AAR

On 29 September, the Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) held that outdoor playground equipment and outdoor gym equipment are classifiable under Heading 9506, with their spare parts generally following the classification of the equipment, while bearings are separately classifiable under Heading 8482. A Bench comprising SGST Member Sushma Vora and CGST Member Vishal Malani passed the ruling on an application by Sundek Sports Pvt. Ltd. It also held that outdoor playground equipment and its...

Taxpayer Can Seek GST Refund Even If Not Party To Case Striking Down Levy: GSTAT Surat

The Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), at Surat, has held that a taxpayer can claim a refund of tax paid under a levy subsequently declared unconstitutional, even if the taxpayer was not a party to the proceedings in which the levy was struck down. “Therefore, a taxpayer may claim refund of tax collected under a levy subsequently declared ultra vires or unconstitutional in a judgment even if he was not a party to such judgment,” the tribunal held. The ruling came in 46...