Author: admin_gst

E-invoice procedural lapse alone cannot sustain detention penalty where transport records establish a genuine taxable supply without tax evasion.
Case-Laws
GST
Non-generation of an e-invoice bearing IRN/QR Code before movement of goods is a procedural breach, but it does not by itself warrant detention penalty under Section 129. Where the tax invoice, e-way bill and lorry receipt identify the parties, goods, value and tax liability, and a later e-invoice matches the transaction, the lapse does not conclusively establish intent to evade tax absent fictitious documents, mismatched goods, value suppression or concealed supply. On these facts, the Section 129 penalty was unsustainable, the appellate order was set aside, and consequential relief was granted subject to statutory procedure.
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GST penalty liability for fraudulent invoices reaches non-taxable beneficiaries only upon proof of benefit retention and transaction instigation.
Case-Laws
GST
Section 122(1A) of the CGST Act may impose a penalty on any person, including an unregistered or non-taxable person, rather than only a taxable person. It applies only where a specified contravention under Section 122(1) is established and it is independently proved that the person retained the transaction's benefit and that the transaction occurred at that person's instance. As a penal provision, it operates prospectively for underlying acts or transactions occurring from 1 January 2021, rather than by reference to the show-cause notice date. Statutory appeals remain available for fact-specific findings despite writ determination of recurring legal questions.
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Prior communication of CGST arrest authorisation is required; summonses cannot replace a distinct pre-arrest notice.
Case-Laws
GST
CGST arrest commences when the person is actually deprived of liberty and placed in custody, not merely when present during a search, inquiry or statement recording. The twenty-four-hour period for production before a Magistrate runs from that actual arrest. Where a judicial undertaking requires seven working days' prior notice of arrest, a summons requiring attendance, evidence or documents is insufficient because it does not communicate a contemplated arrest. The Commissioner's arrest authorisation must contain and disclose reasons to believe, supporting material and application of mind before arrest. An arrest memo cannot substitute for that authorisation; failure of prior communication vitiates the arrest and later remand cannot cure the defect.
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Retrospective input tax credit relief protects timely GSTR-3B claims from limitation-based denial and consequential liabilities.
Case-Laws
GST
Retrospective section 16(5) permits input tax credit for specified financial years where claimed through GSTR-3B filed by the prescribed deadline, overriding the earlier limitation in section 16(4). GSTR-3B functions as the section 39 return for this purpose. Credit is availed when claimed and credited to the Electronic Credit Ledger; later utilisation does not constitute delayed availment. Discrepancies in GSTR-9 or GSTR-9C cannot by themselves extinguish credit already claimed through GSTR-3B. A demand founded solely on limitation cannot be sustained on new substantive grounds absent from the show-cause notice and original adjudication. Interest and penalty dependent exclusively on an invalid credit denial lack an independent basis.
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Blocked Input Tax Credit Requires Specific Exclusions, While Interest Applies Only to Credit Actually Utilised
Case-Laws
GST
Blocked input tax credit must be assessed against the specific statutory exclusion applicable to each supply; the blocked-credit provision cannot operate as a generic residuary ground. Claimants must prove eligibility, any exception, and invoice-to-asset and business-use nexus through contemporaneous records, while assets claimed as plant and machinery must meet the statutory definition. Credits for gifts, food and catering, and unsupported expenditure were disallowed. A lawfully leviable cess separately charged must be included in taxable value. Interest on inadmissible credit applies only where wrongly availed credit is utilised, from utilisation until reversal or payment. Penalty depends on the prescribed statutory conditions and is limited to tax legally sustained, subject to recomputation.
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Fraud-based GST recovery requires show cause notices to state foundational facts, not merely recite statutory grounds.
Case-Laws
GST
Section 74(1) may be invoked for delayed GST payment only where the show cause notice discloses foundational facts permitting an inference of fraud, wilful misstatement, or suppression with intent to evade tax. Mere mechanical reproduction of those statutory expressions does not satisfy that condition. Because the notice contained no such factual basis, recourse to section 74(1) was unwarranted; the Tribunal sustained the setting aside of the proceedings and dismissed the Revenue's appeal.
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Inverted duty refunds remain available where higher-taxed packing materials create accumulated ITC, despite restrictive administrative circulars.
Case-Laws
GST
Refund of unutilised input tax credit under an inverted duty structure remains available where higher-taxed packing materials used to make sulphur marketable in customised packets cause credit accumulation, even though the principal goods at input and output stages are identical. Statutory refund conditions do not exclude such claims based on identity of the principal goods. CBIC circulars issued for uniform implementation cannot add restrictions or curtail the statutory entitlement. The Tribunal upheld the taxpayer's refund and directed release of the sanctioned amount, dismissing the Revenue's appeal.
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Input tax credit on fresh IPO issue expenses is available when proceeds further the company's business activities.
Case-Laws
GST
Input tax credit on expenses attributable to the fresh issue component of an initial public offering is available where the net proceeds are used in furtherance of the company's business. Services used to raise capital for expansion, capital expenditure, working capital, repayment of borrowings and other business purposes have a substantial nexus with business operations and do not fall within blocked credits. In contrast, credit is unavailable for expenses attributable to an offer for sale by existing shareholders because those proceeds accrue to the shareholders rather than the company.
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Hookah service in designated smoking areas remains prohibited despite self-service or rental models under tobacco-control rules.
Case-Laws
GST
Hookah service in designated smoking areas is absolutely prohibited: the post-2017 replacement of “no other service” with “no service” bars every form of service, including self-service or purported rental models. Preparing, supplying, operating, or maintaining hookah for consideration remains a service because its use requires apparatus and technical assistance; patrons lack the unrestricted possession and control required for a rental. Food-safety law does not cover tobacco products, and municipal law provides no separate hookah-licensing power. Police may enforce smoking-in-public-place and tobacco-sale restrictions through statutory search, seizure, confiscation, and penalty powers.
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Input tax credit requires supplier tax payment; insolvency proceedings do not remove the recipient's statutory condition.
Case-Laws
GST
Input tax credit remains conditional on actual payment of the tax charged by the supplier to the Government. The statutory conditions for credit operate conjointly; a recipient who avails credit without ensuring that the supplier paid the corresponding tax cannot retain it, and the credit is recoverable according to law. Supplier insolvency and an approved insolvency resolution plan do not waive or displace this statutory tax-payment condition. The writ petition challenging recovery of the credit was dismissed.
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Misdescription of goods in transit records supports section 129 tax and penalty; post-interception documents cannot cure the breach.
Case-Laws
GST
Transporting separately identifiable higher-value copper scrap under transit documents describing aluminium scrap constitutes more than a classification dispute or clerical error and supports an inference of intent to evade tax. Tax and penalty under section 129 may follow where the discrepancy conceals higher-value goods, particularly alongside repeated document irregularities. An invoice and e-way bill generated only after interception are post-detection measures; without statutory authority, they cannot validate the original transit-document breach or rebut the inference of tax evasion.
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Extended GST limitation permits distinct scrutiny-based demands despite prior audit, but requires fraud, wilful misstatement, or tax-evasive suppression.
Notes
GST
Section 74's five-year limitation applies only where fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression of facts to evade tax provides the statutory basis for the demand. Section 61 return scrutiny and Section 65 audit are separate processes; prior audit findings or Section 73 action do not automatically bar a later Section 74 notice where scrutiny identifies a materially distinct unreconciled input tax credit discrepancy. Departmental knowledge is relevant only if the later notice rests on identical disclosed facts and grounds. At the notice stage, the taxpayer must contest duplication, computation and the alleged intent to evade in reply. If an appellate authority, tribunal or court finds Section 74 ingredients unestablished, Section 75(2) permits treatment of the notice under Section 73, subject to limitation and sustainable underlying liability.
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Blocked construction input tax credit persists despite taxable rental income, subject only to proven plant or structural-support exceptions.
Notes
GST
Input tax credit for construction of immovable property used in a rental business remains subject to statutory blocked-credit restrictions. Although renting is a taxable supply of services, the general business-use entitlement does not override the bar on works contract services for construction or goods and services used to construct immovable property on the taxpayer's own account. Taxable rental income alone neither meets the exception for further supply of works contract services nor establishes that a building is qualifying plant. Eligibility may depend on a fact-specific functionality analysis or proof that expenditure relates to a foundation or structural support integral to identified plant and machinery. Claims must also satisfy timing, documentary, disclosure and utilisation requirements; inadequate statutory disclosure may trigger fraud or suppression-based demand, interest and penalty exposure.
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Inverted duty structure refunds require proof that cotton yarn was manufactured rather than merely traded before eligibility is determined.
Case-Laws
GST
Eligibility for an inverted duty structure refund on cotton yarn depends on factual verification of whether the claimant manufactured yarn using cotton fibre, packing materials and consumables, or merely traded in yarn. Documentary examination must establish the nature of the activity before refund eligibility is determined. Refund-rejection and appellate orders were quashed, with the claims remitted for factual verification and fresh final orders.
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Reliance on Quashed GST Circular Requires Fresh Examination of Inverted-Duty Refund Eligibility for Cotton-Yarn Clearances.
Case-Laws
GST
Reliance on a previously quashed departmental circular could not sustain rejection of an inverted-duty refund claim for cotton-yarn clearances. High Court quashed the appellate order because it rested on that circular and required fresh examination of the inputs procured and their use in manufacturing and clearing cotton yarn before refund eligibility could be determined. The refund claims were remitted for fresh examination, with refund to be granted if eligibility is established.
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Transitional input tax credit claims may use extended filing and revision facility, subject to merits verification.
Case-Laws
GST
Transitional input tax credit claimants could file or revise Form GST TRAN-1 and TRAN-2 within the extended window available to aggrieved registered assessees. Claims filed or revised through that facility remain subject to verification on merits after a reasonable opportunity is provided. The extended mechanism therefore preserves access to transitional credit claims while requiring substantive verification before credit is granted.
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Statutory personal hearing requirements invalidate unreasoned GST demands based solely on duplicate e-way bills and require fresh adjudication.
Case-Laws
GST
Statutory personal hearing under GST requires a real and effective opportunity where a taxable person requests a hearing before an adverse adjudication. Failure to provide a post-reply hearing vitiates the original adjudication and requires fresh consideration. A reasoned order must address the taxpayer's explanation, relevant facts, evidentiary basis, and grounds for inferring an additional taxable supply; a bare rejection of the reply is insufficient. Non-cancellation of a duplicate e-way bill is a material but non-conclusive circumstance, requiring cumulative assessment with primary evidence and surrounding facts. Following amendment, pre-show-cause intimation is enabling, so its non-issuance does not independently require remand.
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Reasoned Appellate Orders Require Consideration of Grounds, with Remand for Effective Hearing and Fresh Adjudication
Case-Laws
GST
Reasoned and speaking appellate orders require consideration of the appellants' material grounds and cited authorities; a bare affirmation of original orders in identical terms fails to exercise appellate jurisdiction. Where original adjudication proceeded ex parte and objections concerning notice, relied-upon documents, and personal hearing remain unexamined, remand preserves the effective appellate remedy rather than a merits decision at the appellate stage. The appellate and original orders were set aside, with fresh adjudication requiring identification and availability of relied-upon documents, reasonable time to reply, an effective personal hearing, and reasoned orders.
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Input tax credit cannot be denied without transaction-specific proof of sham supplies despite retrospective supplier registration cancellation.
Case-Laws
GST
Input tax credit claimed on invoices from a supplier whose registration was retrospectively cancelled requires examination of the facts and evidence for each underlying transaction. Retrospective cancellation alone does not establish credit ineligibility unless specific material shows that invoices were fictitious or sham, or that supplies were not received. Differences between figures in GST returns, standing alone, likewise do not establish an erroneous credit claim. A demand cannot be sustained on a ground materially different from the basis of the original proceedings. Subsequent amendments in GST records may be relevant to determining limited credit eligibility.
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Interlocutory relief requires a registered appeal, while urgent cases may receive expedited scrutiny before substantive hearing.
Case-Laws
GST
Interlocutory relief under Rule 29 is contemplated only in a pending appeal. Where a statutory appeal remains under scrutiny and is not registered, stay or early-hearing relief cannot receive substantive consideration. Urgency may instead justify expedited scrutiny, subject to procedural compliance. Once deficiencies are cleared and the appeal is registered, the interlocutory application may be tagged to it and placed before the Bench for consideration.
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Common portal service of GST notices may not establish effective notice, permitting writ relief against limitation dismissal.
Case-Laws
GST
Service of a GST show-cause notice solely through upload on the Common Portal may be inadequate where receipt is unacknowledged, no reply is filed, and the taxpayer lacks effective knowledge of the proceedings. Although the statutory limitation period binds the appellate authority, writ jurisdiction may address delay caused by circumstances beyond the taxpayer's control where refusing merits adjudication would cause grave injury or prejudice. In the stated circumstances, delay in filing the GST appeal against an input tax credit demand was condoned, the limitation-based dismissal was set aside, and the appellate authority was directed to decide the fresh appeal on merits without raising limitation.
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E-way bill Part-B omissions require proven tax-evasion intent, while missing MOV-09 orders vitiate detention penalties.
Case-Laws
GST
Section 129 penalties for an unfilled Part-B of an e-way bill require independent, recorded evidence of intent to evade tax; a technical or clerical omission alone is insufficient where invoices, Part-A particulars and other documentation establish a transparent, tax-paid transaction. Penalties imposed without positive proof of tax-evasion intent are legally unsustainable. Following detention and consideration of objections, a final reasoned order in Form GST MOV-09 must be issued after providing a hearing. Failure to issue that speaking order prejudices the taxpayer's rights and vitiates the resulting penalty demand.
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Additional court fees on GST first appeals remain payable, but non-payment dismissal was set aside for merits review.
Case-Laws
GST
Additional court fees are payable on GST first appeals before the State appellate authority under the applicable court-fees law, notwithstanding the statutory pre-deposit prescribed for filing the appeal. The levy binds both the appellate authority and taxpayers within the State's jurisdiction. Where the appellant undertakes to pay the requisite fees, dismissal of the first appeal for non-payment may be set aside and the matter remanded for decision on merits after observing natural justice.
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Reasoned appellate GST orders require consideration of material grounds, precedents, and procedural fairness before confirming tax demands.
Case-Laws
GST
Reasoned and speaking appellate GST orders must address material grounds of appeal and cited precedents; merely confirming an ex parte demand for lack of satisfactory evidence fails to exercise appellate jurisdiction. Where original adjudication occurred ex parte and objections concerning notice, relied-upon documents, and hearing remain unresolved, remand for fresh original adjudication preserves the appellate remedy. Fresh proceedings require identification and access to relied-upon documents, a reasonable opportunity to respond, an effective personal hearing, and reasoned findings based on evidence. Non-participation without sufficient cause permits determination on the existing record, but not without reasons.
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Zero-rated turnover includes export invoices issued during the refund period when goods are subsequently exported from India.
Case-Laws
GST
For export refunds under rule 89(4), net input tax credit, turnover of zero-rated supply and adjusted total turnover must correspond to the same relevant period. Export invoices for goods intended for export are issued before or at removal of goods; their value is included in zero-rated turnover where issued during that period, even if the goods are exported later, provided actual export is established. Refund cannot be denied solely because export occurred after the relevant period. An objection that certain input tax credit was inadmissible did not affect the sanctioned refund because the maximum computable refund remained higher than the amount claimed. The departmental appeal was dismissed.
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