GST
Delhi High Court Allows Further Inspection Of CPU Seized From Advocate's Office, With Mandatory Presence Of Parties
The Delhi High Court has issued notice in the application by the GST Department seeking the handing over of the parsed hard drives of the seized Central Processing Unit (CPU) of an advocate, which is in possession of the IT Officers of the Court, for further examination.In doing so, the Court has instructed the presence of representatives from both sides, including a Court officer, and directed the submission of parsed data and hard drives to the Court.A Bench of Justice Prathiba M. Singh and...
Principal ADG Of GST Intelligence Can Order Provisional Attachment Of Trader's Bank Account: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court recently refused to interfere with an order passed by the Principal Additional Director General, Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) provisionally attaching the bank accounts of a trader.The provisional attachment was challenged on the ground of competency of the officer to pass such an order.Petitioner had argued that in terms of Section 83 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 only the GST Commissioner can order provisional attachment to protect...
UPGST Rules | Reason To Believe Must Be Reduced In Writing While Operating Under Rule 86A: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has held that while acting under Rule 86A of the UPGST Rules, authorities must record 'reason to believe' in 'writing'. It held that not doing so would be contrary to the purpose of the Rule. “It may not forgotten, granting ITC and maintaining its chain is the soul of a successful GST regime. Therefore, any doubt or suspicion alone may not lead an action by the authorities to block the ITC of the assessee and disrupt the entire value addition chain and...
DDA Can't Prima Facie Levy GST On Conversion Of Property From Leasehold To Freehold: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has prima facie observed that the Delhi Development Authority cannot levy GST on conversion of property from leasehold to freehold.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain observed,“Prime facie, it clearly appears that conversion is nothing but a part of the process of sale of the immovable property by the DDA to purchasers and GST would not be liable to be charged on such conversion in terms of Section 7(2) of the CGST Act itself.”The bench also...
GST Act | Three-Month Limit U/S 73(2) For Department To Issue SCN Is Mandatory, 'Technical Glitch' No Excuse: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that the time limit set out under 73(2) of the Goods and Services Tax Act for issuance of show cause notice in relation to alleged short payment of tax, etc. is mandatory in nature, and cannot be excused on account of technical glitches on GST portal.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain thus quashed a SCN issued after the 3-month gap prescribed under the provision.For context, Section 73(2) of the GST Act stipulates that show cause notice...
Entire Leased Land Treated As Industrial Construction: Gujarat AAR Blocks ITC On Rent, Repairs & Vacant Portion For Tata-Subsidiary
The Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) has disallowed Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Goods and Services Tax (GST) paid on lease rental on all three counts viz. for constructing factory building on leased land as well as vacant portion of land and on repairs, maintenance and renovation of factory building. The bench of Mr. Vishal Malani (Member- Central Tax) and MS. Sushma Vora (Member- State Tax) has ruled on ITC eligibility of GST paid on lease rental by dismissing the view of...
DGFT Issues Guidelines On Refunds & ITC For Exports Affected By Erstwhile CGST Rule 96(10)
Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has issued a policy circular regarding refund claim or Input Tax Credit by affected exporters, where eligible as well as on redemption of Advance Authorisations impacted by the erstwhile Rule 96(10) of the CGST Rules, 2017. Rule 96(10) provided that a person cannot claim refund of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) paid on export of goods or services if exporter had availed benefit of specified exemption notifications under certain...
DRC-03 Payments Made During GST Search Not Voluntary; Refund Cannot Be Rejected Through Deficiency Memos: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court holds that payments made by assessee through Form GST DRC-03 at the time of search or pursuant to an investigation cannot be treated as 'voluntary payments' when amount was not determined through any formal assessment or adjudication. A Bench comprising of Justice M. Nagaprasanna, quashed deficiency memos issued by the Deputy Commissioner of Central Tax (Revenue) on two different dates rejecting refund sought by assessee. On this score, it was observed that...
No Technical Flaw If GST Orders Lack Visible Signatures; Digital Key Authentication Sufficient: Delhi High Court
The Central Goods and Services Tax Department recently explained to the Delhi High Court the process its officers follow when uploading any show cause notice or order on the GST portal. The explanation was tendered in response to a plea filed before the Court, challenging the legality of a demand order on the ground that the impugned SCN and the impugned order were not duly signed either physically or digitally.The Department now uses digital keys to upload orders on the GST Portal, and without...
Trader's Plea To Cancel GST Registration Unravels ITC Fraud, Delhi High Court Imposes ₹5 Lakh Costs Over Misleading Submissions
In an unusual turn of events at the Delhi High Court, an “innocuous” petition filed by a trader seeking cancellation of its GST registration unravelled fraudulent availment of Input Tax Credit worth lakhs.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain thus imposed a cost of ₹5 lakh on the trader, ₹2 lakh of which would go to the Delhi High Court Bar Association, ₹2 lakh to the GST Department and remaining ₹1 lakh to the Sales Tax Bar Association.“Severe action is liable to be...
'Taxable Person' Under GST Includes Individual Behind Fake Firms Used To Fraudulently Avail ITC: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that where fraudulent availment of tax by a fake firm comes to light, penalties can be imposed on the person behind the bogus operations.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Madhu Jain observed,“When the expression 'taxable person' has to be interpreted, the 'taxable person', so long as it is an identified real person/entity it would be the said person/entity itself. However, in the case of fake, nonexistent and fraudulent firms, who do not have any...
Delhi High Court Upholds Denial Of Cross-Examination By GST Dept Citing Trader's Conduct, Say It's Not An 'Unfettered' Right
The Delhi High Court recently slammed a trader, allegedly involved in clandestine manufacture of pan masala to evade tax and recovery of ₹70 lakh from his premises, for his failure to cooperate in the probe.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain in this backdrop upheld the GST Department's order, denying the Petitioner-trader's right to cross-examination. It observed, “the right to cross-examination is not an unfettered right…the non-filing of a reply to the SCN and the...