CA NIKHIL JAIN (FCA, LLB, B.com (Hons), CS)

  Background : The petitioners challenged the validity of certain sections of the Assam and Central Goods and Services Tax Acts. The controversy was already decided by the Delhi High Court in  On Quest Merchandising India Private Limited -Vs- Government of NCT of Delhi & Ors. , which ruled that a purchasing dealer cannot be punished for the failure of the selling dealer to deposit tax. The Supreme Court dismissed the SLP against the Delhi High Court's decision. Gauhati High Court's Decision : The Gauhati High Court found the controversy in the present case to be covered by the Delhi High Court decision. The court referenced specific sections of the Delhi High Court's judgment: Section 39: The Delhi High Court recognized the need to protect bona fide purchasing dealers from being punished for the selling dealer's failure to deposit tax. Section 41: The court noted that requiring purchasing dealers to anticipate the selling dealer's non-compliance is unreasonable....

GSTAT Establishment and Purpose The GSTAT has been established under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and will become operational from September 1, 2023. The tribunal aims to expedite the resolution of disputes between taxpayers and the Revenue Department, providing greater tax certainty. GSTAT Structure and Location The GSTAT will have a Principal Bench in New Delhi and 31 state benches across various states and union territories. State benches have been strategically distributed to ensure comprehensive coverage. Some notable allocations include: Uttar Pradesh: Lucknow, Varanasi, and Ghaziabad Maharashtra and Goa: Mumbai, Pune, and Nagpur Gujarat: Ahmedabad and Surat Tamil Nadu and Puducherry: Chennai and Puducherry GSTAT Operation and Impact The GSTAT benches will operate in a phased manner, starting with state capitals and cities with High Court benches. The first set of tribunals is expected to be operational between November 2024 and January 2025. Each bench will cons...

TL;DR: Budget 2024 introduced a new time limit for issuing GST demand notices and orders. Now, the tax authorities have 42 months to issue a demand notice from the due date of the annual return, and 12 months to issue a demand order from the date of the demand notice. New Time Limits for GST Demand Notices and Orders Previous time limits: Section 73 (no fraud): 33 months from the due date of the annual return. Section 74 (fraud): 54 months from the due date of the annual return. New time limits: Demand notice:  42 months from the due date of the annual return. Demand order:  12 months from the date of the demand notice. Impact of the Amendment Uniform timeframe:  The amendment establishes a uniform timeframe for issuing GST demand notices and orders, regardless of fraud allegations. Longer time for errors:  This gives tax authorities more time to issue notices for cases involving errors in interpretation. Shorter time for fraud:  This reduces the time limit fo...

  Indian Medical Association Vs Union Of India (Kerala High Court) Case Summary: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) Kerala branch challenged the constitutionality of Section 7(aa) of the CGST Act, arguing that it violated the principle of mutuality and retrospectively imposed a tax burden on the association. The IMA Kerala branch operates various schemes for its members, including social security, professional disability, and professional protection. These schemes involve contributions from members and payouts to members or their families in case of death, disability, or other events. The IMA Kerala branch argued that these activities were not subject to GST under the principle of mutuality, as they involved members serving themselves rather than one another. The court acknowledged the established principle of mutuality but found that Parliament, in its wisdom, had amended the CGST Act to include activities between clubs or associations and their members within the scope of GST. ...

Case Name: Sunbeam Generators Pvt. Ltd. Vs Additional Commissioner (Madras High Court) ( W.P.No.16140 of 2024) One-Sentence Summary Madras High Court ruled that the requirement to file a self-certified copy of the order being appealed is only applicable if the order is not uploaded on the common portal, and that the date of online filing of the appeal is considered the date of filing, even if the hard copy is submitted later. Summary 1. Appeal Filing Timeline: The petitioner filed the appeal online on the GST portal on June 28, 2022, within the prescribed time limit of July 12, 2022. However, the appeal was rejected because the hard copy was submitted on May 23, 2023. 2. Relevant GST Rules According to Rule 108(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017: If the order being appealed is uploaded on the common portal, the date of online filing is considered the date of appeal filing. If the order is not uploaded, the appellant must submit a self-certified copy within 7 days, and...

The court has set aside the impugned order dated 28.03.2024 in respect of six issues raised in the show cause notice and confirmed in the order, subject to the condition that the petitioner remits 10% of the disputed tax demand relating to those six issues within 15 days. Summary Background:  The petitioner challenges an assessment order dated 28.03.2024, which was issued following a show cause notice and a personal hearing. Petitioner’s Arguments:  The petitioner argues that the assessment order violates principles of natural justice because it deals with two new issues not raised in the show cause notice, and because it makes contradictory conclusions regarding the sale of old vehicles and ITC reversal for exempted supplies. Respondent's Arguments:  The respondent argues that the two new issues arose from the petitioner's reply, and that the assessment order is essentially a show cause notice on those issues. The respondent also contends that principles of natural justi...

  One-Sentence Summary: The website announces the integration of the NIC-IRP e-invoice-1 and e-invoice-2 portals, allowing seamless interoperability and providing taxpayers with additional options for e-invoice related services. Summary: 🔍 Integrated e-Invoice Portals The NIC-IRP e-invoice-1 and e-invoice-2 portals will be integrated, allowing taxpayers to use the same login credentials and API tokens across both portals. Taxpayers can use the e-invoice-2 portal during technical issues with the main e-invoice portal or other emergencies. Taxpayers can perform cross-portal operations like printing, downloading, and cancelling e-invoices on either portal. 🔧 Technical Details The integrated portals will provide both web and API modes for e-invoice related services. Taxpayers are advised to test all APIs in the sandbox environment before using them in the production environment. In addition to the NIC-IRP portals, four other e-invoice portals (IRP-3, IRP-4, IRP-5, and IRP-6) are ava...