Can importer be held liable for tax to be paid on reverse charge basis on ocean freight consignment in view of the Entry No. 10 of the notification dated 28.06.2017?

tax to be paid

Case Title

Ozone Procon Pvt Ltd vs Union of India.

Court

Gujarat High Court

Honorable Judges

Justice A.J.Desai & Justice Bhargav D.Karia

Citation

2022 (6) GSTPanacea 262 HC Gujarat

C/SCA/22433/2019

Judgement Date

16-June-2022

Council for Petitioner

Uchit N Sheth

Council for Respondent

Utkarsh R Sharma

Section

Section 5(3) of the IGST Act issued a notification dated 28.06.2017

In Favour of

Favour of Assessee

The Gujarat High Court bench of Justice A.J.Desai & Justice Bhargav D.Karia has held that impugned noticed dated 29.08.2019, judgement dated 23.01.2020 passed by this Court by which Entry No. 10 of the notification dated 28.06.2017 is held utra vires the Integrated Goods and Services TaxAct,2017.Accordingly impugned notice is hereby quashed and set aside.

FACTS OF THE CASE

The petitioner is engaged in the business of import of crude oil of edible grade from outside the country. The purchases of goods in question are made on high seas basis and the imports are on Cost Insurance Freight [‘C.I.F’ for short].

The person from whom the goods are purchased i.e. exporter is supposed arrange transportation of the goods up to the port of India

When the good are imported into the country and when it sought clearance for home consumption, the petitioner pays the custom duty and tax under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act,2017 [‘IGST’ Act for short] on total value of goods including the C.I.F

Respondent-authority issued notice on 29.08.2019 alleging that the petitioner has not paid the tax on reverse charge basis on ocean freight in respect of the import consignment in view of the Entry No. 10 of the notification dated 28.06.2017

Respondent-authority issued notice on 29.08.2019 alleging that the petitioner has not paid the tax on reverse charge basis on ocean freight in respect of the import consignment in view of the Entry No. 10 of the notification dated 28.06.2017

tax to be paid

COURT HELD

Considering the facts as recorded, held that perused the impugned notice/communication dated 29.08.2019 issued by the respondent, judgement dated 23.01.2020 passed by this Court by which Entry No. 10 of the notification dated 28.06.2017 is held utra vires the Integrated Goods and Services TaxAct,2017 which is upheld by the Hon’ble Supreme Court and in view of the above position, the proceedings initiated by the respondents as well as notice/communication dated 29.08.2019 are required to be quashed and set aside.

Accordingly, the petition is allowed and impugned notice/communication dated 29.08.2019 is hereby quashed and set aside

tax to be paid

ANALYSIS OF THE JUDGEMENT

Mr. Uchit Sheth has placed a recent judgement dated 19.05.2022 of the Hon’ble Apex Court in case of Union of India and other vs. Mohit Minerals Pvt. Ltd. [Civil Appeal No. 1390 of 2022 and allied matters] to submit that the Hon’ble Apex Court has upheld the decision of the Division Bench of this Court passed in Special Civil Application No. 726 of 2018.

In view of the above judgement, the proceedings initiated by the authority is required to be quashed and set aside.

Download PDF:

Ozone Procon Pvt Ltd

For Reference Visit:

Gujarat High Court