Confiscation of Excess Stock is Invalid; Regular Tax Demand Provisions Must Be Used. Issue Whether GST authorities can initiate confiscation proceedings under Section 130 of the CGST Act for unaccounted “excess stock” found during a survey of a registered business premise, or if they are legally bound to use the standard demand and recovery provisions… Read More »
Officer Must Choose: Conclude Detention (S. 129) or Initiate Confiscation (S. 130). Issue Can a GST officer initiate confiscation proceedings under Section 130 of the CGST Act while detention proceedings under Section 129 for the same goods are still active, or must the officer first conclude the detention proceedings before escalating the matter to confiscation?… Read More »
Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling Cannot Condone Appeal Delay Beyond 60 Days. Issue Whether the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling (AAAR) has the statutory power to condone a delay in filing an appeal that is beyond the maximum 60-day period (30 days + 30 days) prescribed under Section 100(2) of the CGST Act. Facts The… Read More »
Unsigned Orders and Unilateral ECL Debit Invalid; HC Orders Credit Restoration. Issue Can the GST department unilaterally debit a taxpayer’s Electronic Credit Ledger (ECL) to recover a demand, especially when the underlying demand orders (DRC-07) are unsigned and legally invalid? Facts The petitioners filed writ petitions challenging both the demand orders (DRC-01 and DRC-07) and… Read More »
Taxpayer Not Entitled to Copy of GST Search Authorization, HC Upholds Inspection. Issue Whether a GST inspection under Section 67 is legally invalid if the officer (1) is not the one who formed the “reasons to believe,” and (2) does not provide a copy of the written authorization or the underlying reasons to the taxpayer.… Read More »
HC Grants Liberty to File Revocation Application Despite Lapsed Appeal Deadline. Issue Can a High Court, in its writ jurisdiction, grant a taxpayer the “liberty” to file a fresh application for revocation of their GST registration, even after the taxpayer has failed to apply for revocation in time and has had a subsequent, belated appeal… Read More »
An SEZ unit is entitled to claim a refund of unutilized IGST credit distributed by an Input Service Distributor. Issue Can a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) unit claim a refund of unutilized Input Tax Credit (ITC) of IGST that it received from its Input Service Distributor (ISD), or is the refund claim restricted only to… Read More »
GST on Frozen Chicken Depends on End-User, Not Just Packaging. Issue Whether “pre-packaged and labelled” frozen chicken, supplied in wholesale/institutional packs, is eligible for a GST exemption, or if it is taxable at 5%. Specifically, does the tax treatment change based on whether the end-consumer is an “institutional consumer” (like the Army or a hotel)… Read More »
Rent for Agricultural Land is Exempt from GST, Not Taxable as Real Estate Service. Issue Whether lease rent (or “quit rent”) paid to the State Government for land used for agricultural purposes (specifically, rubber cultivation) is taxable at 18% as a “Real Estate Service” (SAC 9972), or is it classifiable as a “Support Service related… Read More »
Employee Canteen Recoveries Are Taxable Supplies Under GST Issue Whether the subsidized amount recovered from employees for canteen facilities, which are provided via a third-party vendor, constitutes a taxable “supply” under GST. Facts The applicant, a manufacturer, provides a statutory canteen facility for its employees. A third-party canteen service provider operates the facility and raises… Read More »