GST Update

Desk of CA. Praveen Sharma – 907 Series (CAPS)

Delhi High Court in the case of Sight and Sound India Private Limited

• The writ petition was filed against a GST SCN dated 27.09.2023 and demand order dated 20.11.2023 for the period July 2017 to March 2018.

• The department had confirmed a demand of about ?23.27 lakh including tax, interest and penalty under CGST and SGST.

• The taxpayer argued that the SCN and reminder dated 10.11.2023 were uploaded only under the “Additional Notices” tab on the GST portal and never came to their notice.

• Due to non-visibility of notices, no reply could be filed and no personal hearing was attended, resulting in an ex-parte order.

• The Court observed that the GST portal interface was improved only after mid-January 2024 and earlier notices may not have been easily visible.

• Holding that effective opportunity was not given, the Court set aside the demand order and remanded the matter for fresh adjudication.

• The taxpayer has been allowed time till 31.01.2026 to file a reply, subject to payment of ?10,000 as costs to the Sales Tax Bar Association by 10.01.2026, after which a proper hearing and fresh reasoned order must be passed.

Link:CA. Praveen Sharma on Linkedin

Regards
CAPS