GST Refund Cannot Be Rejected Merely Because Department Plans To Challenge Appellate Order: Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court has recently ruled that a GST refund authority cannot reopen an ITC dispute already decided by an appellate authority merely because the department proposes to challenge that order. An appellate order remains operative unless it is stayed, modified, or set aside in accordance with law. If the department seeks to withhold the refund while further proceedings are pending, it must comply with the requirements of Section 54(11) of the CGST Act.A Division Bench of Chief...

Advocate-Client Privilege Cannot Bar GST Search Of Advocate's Office If His Role Is Under Probe: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has upheld the search conducted by the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Department at an Advocate's office, including seizure of a CPU from his cabin, holding that advocate-client privilege cannot operate as an absolute bar against investigation into the conduct of the advocate himself where there is prima facie material indicating his possible involvement in the affairs under investigation.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain, however, clarified...

Clerical Error Cannot Justify Denial Of Refund Of IGST Paid Twice: GSTAT Thiruvananthapuram

On 17 September, the Thiruvananthapuram Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) held that a clerical error in reporting export turnover in GSTR-3B cannot by itself justify denial of refund of IGST paid twice by an exporter. A Division Bench comprising Vice-President Subramanya Rayaprol and Technical Member Ramamoorthi Sriram set aside the Orders rejecting Choice Cashew Industries' refund claims and allowed the three appeals with consequential reliefs. The Bench described...

Madras High Court Sets Aside Orders Over Inzi Controls Air & Oil Filter Classification, Remands Matter

The Madras High Court on 8 September set aside appellate orders concerning the classification of air and oil filters manufactured by Inzi Controls India Limited and remanded the matter to the appellate authority for fresh consideration. A Bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy passed the order in a batch of petitions filed by Inzi Controls, which manufactures air and oil filters supplied to automobile companies. The company had classified the filters under Chapter 84, while the Tax...

Karnataka High Court Sets Aside ₹91 Lakh GST Demand Against King Enterprise Over Ex Parte Proceedings

The Karnataka High Court on 11 September set aside a GST tax and penalty demand of Rs. 91,00,384 against King Enterprise, finding that the proceedings had been completed ex parte without affording the business an effective opportunity to present its case. Justice T.M. Nadaf set aside the tax and summary orders against the company and remanded the matter to the tax authority for fresh consideration. The Bench observed: “The petitioner should have been more circumspect and cautious while...

Post-Facto Approval Cannot Bring Pre-GST Services Within GST Regime: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on 14 September held that post-facto approval of work completed before the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) cannot alter the date of supply or bring the completed service within the GST regime. Justice Partha Sarathi Chatterjee allowed a writ petition filed by Goutam Engineering Concern against West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) and directed the latter to release Rs. 19,91,148 towards payment for technical personnel...

J&K High Court Stays ₹3.88 Cr. GST Show Cause Notice Against Uflex Ltd. For Lack Of Fraud Allegations

On 16 September, the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court stayed a show cause notice issued under Section 74(1) of the Jammu and Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, where the petitioner challenged the invocation of the provision in the absence of foundational facts of fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts with intent to evade tax. A Division Bench of Justices Sanjeev Kumar and Shahzad Azeem issued notice to the respondents and stayed the effect and operation of the...

Electronic Gift Vouchers Can Be Valid Mode Of Passing GST Rate-Cut Benefit If Unconditional: GSTAT Delhi

The GST Appellate Tribunal at Delhi has recently held that electronic gift vouchers (EGVs) can be a mode of passing on a GST rate reduction, where they provide customers a direct monetary credit without conditions, expiry or usage restrictions.The ruling came in proceedings involving Sane Retails Pvt. Ltd., accused of failing to pass on a reduction in GST from 28% to 18% on MI LED Television 4A 80 cm from January 1, 2019. The tribunal found that the company had substantially complied with the...

GST Authority Cannot Pass Fresh Ex-Parte Order After Ignoring Replies: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that an adjudicating authority under the U.P. GST Act, 2017 must recall an order if it finds that it failed to consider the replies filed against the proceedings and hear the person afresh. It cannot consider those replies itself and pass a fresh ex-parte order on merits while exercising the rectification power under Section 161 of the Act. A Division Bench of Justices Saumitra Dayal Singh and Swarupama Chaturvedi set aside an order passed against Wonder...

Gujarat High Court Quashes GST Demand, Holds ITC Cannot Be Denied On Non-Taxable Transaction

The Gujarat High Court has held that tax authorities cannot deny input tax credit on a transaction that was not taxable in the first place.A bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati made the ruling while quashing a GST demand against Kor Chems over credit claimed on the acquisition of leasehold rights in a GIDC industrial plot. The court held that the ITC reversal and interest could not survive after finding that GST was not leviable on the transfer of the leasehold...

Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Quashes GST Penalty Proceedings Over One-Day Delay In Notice

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that the seven-day timeline under Section 129(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for issuing a notice after detention and seizure of goods is mandatory. The court set aside the orders in the case after finding that the notice was issued a day beyond the prescribed period.“There was a delay of one day in issuing the notice, which vitiates the entire proceedings,” a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Kumar and...

Delhi High Court Upholds Corrigendum Correcting GST Portal Order That Showed Proceedings Dropped

The Delhi High Court has upheld a corrigendum issued by a GST officer to correct an inadvertent error on the GST portal, where the portal-generated order showed that proceedings against a taxpayer had been dropped even though the accompanying adjudication order had confirmed a tax, interest and penalty demand.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain held that the corrigendum merely corrected an inconsistent recital in the original order and did not create a fresh demand.The...