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Cus - Export of non-basmati rice - Notification 20/2023 insofar as it denies the benefit of the transitional arrangement as contained in para-1.05 of the FTP 2023, is bad in law: HCCus - Refund of SAD - 102/2007-Cus - Areca Nut and Supari are one and the same - Objections with regard to name, nature and status of importer or buyers or the end use of goods purchased by them etc. are extraneous: HCCX - Interest on Refund - Since wrong order annexed by petitioner in paper book, Bench is unable to proceed further - Petition is dismissed with liberty to file a fresh one: HCGST - No E-way bill - When petitioner imports machinery and after Customs clearance, transports same to his own factory, it cannot be said that such a transportation would fall within the definition of term 'supply' - Penalty imposable under second limb of s.129(1)(a): HCGST - Fix responsibility on officers who allowed BG to lapse - Petitioner not justified in not renewing BG - Cost of Rs.15 lacs imposed, to be paid to PM Cares Fund: HCGST - Since the parties agree that petition can be disposed of on the basis of records available before Appellate Authority, petitioner is directed to enclose all documents filed before Appellate Authority in a compilation, in form of a paper book: HCWrong RoadST - Whether any service is used for personal consumption or not is certainly question of fact and being question of fact, no substantial question of law arises: HCGovt proposes to amend Geographical Indication of Goods Rules; Draft issued for feedbackST - If what has been paid as tax is without authority of law, Revenue should refund the same - Denial of credit would result in the whole exercise being tax neutral: HCWarehousing Authority notifies several agri goods to be stored in only registered warehousesST - Even if the petitioner may have a case on merits, it is best left to be decided by the Appellate Authority under the hierarchy prescribed under the FA, 1994: HCUS FDA okays Eli Lilly Alzheimer’s drugGST - Petitioner challenges jurisdiction of assessing officer - Petitioner is entitled to file an appeal u/s 107 by availing an alternate efficacious remedy: HCFive from Telangana killed in car accident on Pune-Solapur HighwayGST - Existence of an alternative remedy is a material consideration but not a bar to the exercise of jurisdiction: HCHush money case against Donald Trump - Sentencing deferred to Sept 18GST - It is open to a trader to take goods by whichever route he opts, unless the law otherwise requires, destination point being intact: HCDeadly hurricane Beryl smashes properties in JamaicaGST - Conclusion that taxable person is providing a service to supplier while taking the benefit of a discount by facilitating an increase in the volume of sales of such supplier is ex facie erroneous and contrary to the fundamental tenets of GST law: HCIsrael claims 900 militants killed in Rafah since May monthGST - Order expressly records that personal hearing notice was returned with endorsement 'no such person at address' - Since petitioner has shifted to a new premises, it is just and necessary to provide an opportunity to contest demand: HC116 die in stampede at UP ’Satsang’I-T- Application for revision of order dismissed in limine on grounds of delay; case remanded for re-consideration: HCWe are deepening economic ties with India, says US officialI-T- As per Section 119(2)(b), power to condone applications relate to claims for amount exceeding Rs 50 lakhs are to be considered by CBDT; however it is impermissible for CBDT to pass order on merits: HC8 Dutch engineers build world’s longest bicycle - 180 feet, 11 inchesI-T- Additions framed u/s 68 for unexplained income & u/s 69 for unexplained expenditure not tenable where complete transactional details are furnished & not doubted: HCRailways earns Rs 14798 Crore from Freight loading in June monthI-T- Delay in filing ITR is per se insufficient reason to estimate assessee's profit @15% on turnover, more so where audited financial report is filed in timely manner: ITATMoD inks MoU to set up testing facilities in Unmanned Aerial System in TN Defence Industrial CorridorI-T- For invoking section 69A, assessee should be found to be owner of any money, bullion, jewellery or other valuable article & which is not recorded in the books of account: ITATGovt proposes Guidelines for ethical approach to Coal MiningI-T- TDS credit can be allowed based on AIS, where details pertaining to TDS, advance tax & other payments are reflected in Form 26AS: ITATVaishnaw to inaugurate Global IndiaAI Summit 2024I-T- Lending money with the primary intention of earning interest can be considered a business activity, but nature and manner of lending, as well as the frequency, should be taken into account: ITAT
 
Sabka Vishwas

JANUARY 08, 2020


By Vijay Kumar

IT is really difficult to get sabka vishwas. The good government is trying to get the vishwas of a large number of citizens, if not all. In mid-December, the Government announced that the Sabka Viswas Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme shall not be extended beyond 31st December 2019.

Come December 31st and they announced, "Last date of filing declarations in Sabka Vishwas Legacy Dispute Resolution Scheme is extended to 15th January 2020."

Nothing wrong! After all the government wanted to extend the golden opportunity to its taxpayers by another fortnight. But should they have emphatically stated that the Scheme shall not be extended beyond 31st December 2019? Well, this must have been to prompt people to come without waiting for the last day. Perfectly okay, though it damages the ‘vishwas' a little.

Actually, the scheme requires to be extended by another three months and the problems in availing the scheme addressed. The Scheme was launched with laudable objectives and the officers of the Department are constantly persuading the taxpayers to avail the benefits of the scheme. But unfortunately, the implementation of the scheme is frustratingly cumbersome. The website is absolutely faulty. It is very difficult to register and once you register the trouble starts. Some of the issues are:

1. When you try to login, it says, ‘there is a problem, contact support'

2. Support is not really supportive; if you call them, after getting your bio-data and not understanding your problem, they will ask you to contact the jurisdictional officers. If you send them a mail, they will reply, but will not solve your problem.

3. If you go to the jurisdictional officers, except a few, they are all courteous, but do not know how to solve your problem.

4. If you make a mistake in your PAN or name, God forbid, there is no way you can correct it.

5. If you are able to file your application and you get your SVLDRS-3, the challan is not generated. If the challan is generated, the mandate is not generated, if that is also generated and you pay the amount, the payment particulars are not generated. And nobody knows what to do. Under absolute vishwas, you pay the amount, but you don't get the SVLDRS-4. Even when your payment particulars are visible and the button to generate challan is not visible, you get a message, "not paid". Nobody has a clue as to how to sort out these issues and the ‘vishwas holders' are running helter-skelter to find a saintly officer who can help them.

They have not learnt their lessons from GST – the best of schemes can be ruined by hasty design and faulty systems. Let us restore the vishwas and not let the scheme leave a bad memory. These are small issues and can be easily solved – with a little concern. Will the concerned officers do the needful to the fullest extent? Without that, extending the scheme will not help.

Amendment to Section 50 of GST Act - still not notified.

Some extracts from the Agenda Item 7(xx) of the GST Council Meeting held on 22nd December 2018:

The liability to pay interest in case of non-payment of tax arises out of the provisions contained in Section 50 (1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the "CGST Act") which reads as follows:

"Every person who is liable to pay tax in accordance with the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder, but fails to pay the tax or any part thereof to the Government within the period prescribed, shall for the period for which the tax or any part thereof remains unpaid, pay, on his own, interest at such rate, not exceeding eighteen per cent., as may be notified by the Government on the recommendations of the Council."

It may be seen from the above provision that interest is applicable on the amount of tax that has not been paid by the registered person.

Thus, although the law permits part payment of tax but no such facility has been yet made available on the common portal. This being the case, a registered person cannot even avail his eligible ITC as he cannot furnish his return unless he is in a position to deposit his entire tax liability as self-assessed by him. This inflexibility of the system increases the interest burden.

Presently the interest is not calculated by the IT system. The registered person himself calculates the said interest and deposits the same. It appears, therefore, that any change would not pose any IT related challenge.

Therefore, the GST Council approved the Amendment of section 50 of the CGST Act to provide that interest should be charged only on the net tax liability of the taxpayer, after taking into account the admissible input tax credit, i.e. interest would be leviable only on the amount payable through the electronic cash ledger .

The Government brought in this amendment in the Budget 2019 which was enacted as the Finance Act (2) of 2019 on 1st August 2019. This Finance Act by Section 100 inserted the following proviso in Section 50(1) of the CGST Act.

"Provided that the interest on tax payable in respect of supplies made during a tax period and declared in the return for the said period furnished after the due date in accordance with the provisions of section 39, except where such return is furnished after commencement of any proceedings under section 73 or section 74 in respect of the said period, shall be levied on that portion of the tax that is paid by debiting the electronic cash ledger".

This is real vishwas. The GST Council took note of the problem and approved recommended legislative changes. The Government also acted with vishwas and brought the amendment before Parliament which was passed by Parliament and assented by the President.

Problem solved!

No, not yet.

There is a catch! The Finance Act, 2019 stipulated that sections 92 to 112 and section 114 shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. Our amendment is Section 100 and that would not become law unless and until the government notifies it. The Finance Act, 2019 came into existence on 1st August 2019 and still the provision amending Section 50 is yet to be delivered into law. On 1.1.2020, the government notified certain sections of the Finance Act to come into force from 1.1.2020, but our Section 100 was specifically excluded. So, we have to wait further for the law, which the GST Council proposed to redress the genuine grievance of the assessees, caused by an error in drafting the original law and is yet to be implemented even a year after the GST Council approved it. Even after notifying it, the Government will have to clarify whether it will have retrospective effect. That is another big litigation issue.

In the meantime, the matter is before several High Courts and litigation may even reach the Supreme Court. Why should we have so much of litigation and turbulence? Can't we have a little peace? That is 'Sabka Vishwas '.

Until next week


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