Security & Scavenging Services To Govt Hospitals Qualify As "Pure Services", Exempt From GST: West Bengal AAR

The West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has held that security and scavenging services provided to government-run medical colleges and hospitals qualify as “pure services” and are exempt from Goods and Services Tax (GST) under Notification No. 12/2017. The Authority held that services essential to the functioning of public hospitals, when supplied without any element of goods, fall within activities relating to functions entrusted to Panchayats and Municipalities under...

GSTAT Directs Builder To Return Over ₹20 Lakhs Benefit To Diya Greencity Homebuyers With Interest

The Goods and Services Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), Anti Profiteering Division at Delhi has directed the Builder to return ₹20,21,440 out of the Amount not passed on, along with interest to the homebuyers of Diya Greencity Project. In a recent order, a Division Bench comprising, Shri. Mayank Kumar Jain (Judicial Member) and Shri. Anil Kumar Gupta (Technical Member) verified that benefit of about ₹13 crores to 1177 eligible homebuyers had been passed on but “No benefit has been passed to...

Digitalisation, GIS Mapping And Tech Consultancy For Jal Jeevan Mission Are 'Pure Services', Exempt From GST: West Bengal AAR

The West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has held that digitalisation, GIS mapping, monitoring, data management and technical consultancy services provided to the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) in connection with water supply schemes qualify as “pure services” and are exempt from Goods and Services Tax (GST) under Notification No. 12/2017. The Authority ruled that such services are directly related to functions entrusted to Panchayats and Municipalities under...

Allahabad High Court Directs Criminal Contempt Against GST Official For Filing Misleading Personal Affidavit

On Thursday, Allahabad High Court directed initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against Additional Commissioner, Grade-2(Appeal) First, State Tax, Meerut for filing a misleading personal affidavit before the Court despite being given 2 opportunities. Noting that the impugned order did not show any consideration of the circulars and only quoted a report signed by an appropriate office, Justice Piyush Agrawal observed “This shows the functioning of the GST Department. The...

Multiple-Noticee GST Cases Must Be Adjudicated By Single Commissionerate Based On Highest Demand: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has made it clear that in cases involving multiple noticees, adjudication has to be done by a single commissionerate, depending upon the highest monetary demand.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain observed,“This Court is of the opinion that in cases involving multiple noticees, the adjudication cannot be done by different commissionerates and the commissionerate is decided, depending upon the monetary demands that are proposed to be raised and the...

GST Not Leviable On Interest/Penalty Charged By Chit Fund Companies For Delayed Payment Of Monthly Subscriptions: AP High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court held that interest and penalty collected by chit fund companies from defaulting subscribers for delayed payment of instalments are not taxable under GST. Justices R. Raghunandan Rao and T.C.D. Sekhar examined whether the interest/penalty collected for the delay in payment of the monthly subscription by the members forms a supply under GST. In the case at hand, the petitioner was a chit fund company engaged in the business of running chit schemes. The...

GST Not Leviable On Interest/Penalty Charged By Chit Fund Companies For Delayed Payment Of Monthly Subscriptions: AP High Court

The Andhra Pradesh High Court held that interest and penalty collected by chit fund companies from defaulting subscribers for delayed payment of instalments are not taxable under GST. Justices R. Raghunandan Rao and T.C.D. Sekhar examined whether the interest/penalty collected for the delay in payment of the monthly subscription by the members forms a supply under GST. In the case at hand, the petitioner was a chit fund company engaged in the business of running chit schemes. The...

ITC Cannot Be Denied To Purchasing Dealer Solely Due To Retrospective Cancellation Of Supplier's GST Registration: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court held that Input Tax Credit (ITC) cannot be denied to a purchasing dealer merely because the supplier's GST registration was cancelled retrospectively. Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya noted that apart from holding that the invoice dates were after the effective date of cancellation of the registration certificate of the supplier in question, no other ground has been mentioned by the appellate authority as a ground for denial of Input Tax Credit. In this case,...

Can GST Be Levied On Medicines Supplied During In-Patient Treatment? Delhi High Court To Examine

The Delhi High Court will examine whether GST can be demanded on medicines and consumables supplied to patients as part of inpatient treatment.The court issued notice in a writ petition filed by Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fortis Healthcare, challenging a GST demand of Rs 6.66 crore, along with interest and penalty. A division bench of Justice Prathiba M Singh and Justice Shail Jain clarified that adjudication proceedings arising from the...

GST Amnesty Relief Cannot Be Granted By Tribunal, Parties Must Approach Writ Courts: NCLT Mumbai

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) at Mumbai has held that it has no jurisdiction to relax conditions or grant benefits under a statutory GST immunity or amnesty scheme. Such relief, it said, can be granted only by constitutional courts exercising writ jurisdiction. A bench of Judicial Member Sushil Mahadeorao Kochey and Technical Member Prabhat Kumar said the tribunal's powers under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code cannot be stretched to override conditions prescribed under tax amnesty...

Home Delivery Services By E-Commerce Platforms To Consumers Exempt From GST: West Bengal AAR

The West Bengal Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has ruled that transportation services proposed to be provided by Flipkart India Private Limited under a new logistics model qualify as Goods Transport Agency (GTA) services and are exempt from GST when supplied to unregistered end customers under Serial No. 21A of Notification No. 12/2017–Central Tax (Rate). Flipkart India Private Limited, which was already engaged in B2B trading of goods, proposed to introduce a logistics model...

GST Interest/Penalty Waiver Can't Be Denied For Initial Wrong RCM Payment Through ITC Once Cash Compliance Is Made: Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court has held that a GST interest and penalty waiver application filed by the petitioner cannot be rejected merely because a portion of tax liability under reverse charge mechanism (RCM) was initially discharged through input tax credit, subsequently pays the amount in cash and complies with legal requirements. A Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice Murahari Sri Raman heard the writ petition filed by Simon India Ltd., a company engaged...