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2020 (5) TMI 219

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..... which are supplied online when the customer connects to internet. The initial supply is with a subscription for a period of 1 year, the renewal of which do not require any more supply of DVDs/ CDs but done on payment of subscription for the further period - It is seen that the software gives the user option to search various Acts, case laws on Criminal Law, Cr.P.C., I.P.C., Evidence Act, etc hitherto published in the journal. The software is updated with new content, updates of cases when connected to internet. Thus, it is seen that the DVD in effect contain software which requires an End User License Agreement to be accepted by the user. The DVD is not an electronic version of the print journals. If it was an electronic version of the print journals, the DVD would have machine readable files in any format such as .doc, .txt, .pdf or any other readable files and not the executable file ( setup application) which it has. The Dongle acts as a key and has some software installed on it which allows the application to be used and updates installed. When the applicant supplies the DVDs/CDs with Dongle, the supply consists of (1) supply of DVDs/CDs and Dongle and (2) The Law Weekly Des .....

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..... o utilization of credit availed by the applicant and that of reversal of credit availed, which do not fall under any of the category specified under Section 97(2) of the Act and therefore are not within the ambit of this authority. - TN/13/AAR/2020 - - - Dated:- 27-2-2020 - MS. MANASA GANGOTRI KATA, IRS, AND THIRU KURINJISELVAAN V.S., M.SC. (AGRI.), M.B.A., MEMBER Note: Any appeal against this Advance Ruling order shall lie before the Tamil Nadu State Appellate Authority for Advance Rulings, Chennai as under Sub Section (1) of CGST Act / TNGST Act 2017, within 30 days from the date on the ruling sought to be appealed is communicated. At the outset, we would like to make it clear that the provisions of both the Central Goods and Service Tax Act and the Tamil Nadu Goods and Service Tax Act are the same except for certain provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is specifically made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference to the Central Goods and Service Tax Act would also mean a reference to the same provisions under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Service Tax Act. Venbakkam Commandur Janardhanan, Proprietor M/s Law Weekly Journal, No.3, South Mada Street, Mylapore, Chen .....

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..... on 13/2018-Central Tax(rate) dated 26.07.2018 the applicant has sought Advance ruling on the applicability of the above said notification for the supply of the electronic form of DVDs/CDs supplied by them. The applicant has also stated that they have entrusted the job of developing the e-book with software to M/s. Sofist India and have paid the GST for the services rendered by them. They have also claimed input tax for the purchase of paper, ink, CD, Pen drive and other connected materials. They also stated that they have sufficient credit in their electronic ledger and their liability is being adjusted every month against the credit. In view of the above facts, the applicant has sought Advance ruling for the questions mentioned in para 1 supra. 3. The Applicant was granted personal hearing and heard on 23.07.2019 in respect of application. The authorized representative stated that they have 3 print journals (2 weekly and one monthly). They have a DVD desktop version which is supplied with DVDs and a dangle. First time, the DVD can be used to install a proprietary software. Once installed the software The Law weekly can be used to access searchable database which is valid .....

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..... on the purchase of paper and other material can be reversed while filing GSTR 9? Should be reversed at every month or if it is reversed while filing in GSTR interest must be paid by the dealer. 5. We have carefully considered the submissions made by the applicant in the advance ruling application, the additional submissions made during the personal hearings and the comments furnished by the State Jurisdictional Officer. The questions raised by the applicant and to be decided are as follows: 1. Whether the assessce/dealer which publishes law journals in print and sells the same content that is in books in an electronic form in DVD s/CD s with a software to search and read it in computers and hand held devices come under the category of E Book, so that it can avail the benefit of notification dated 26.07.2018 in respect of E-book? 2. Whether the liability on the sale of DVD/pen drive which contains printed version of law citations can be adjusted against the available ITC? 3. Whether the liability on sale of e-book of printed version of law citation can be adjusted against the available ITC? 4. Whether the balance of ITC .....

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..... Notification in respect of E-book . 6.2 In the case at hand, the applicant has stated that the printed law journals/books/periodicals are sold in electronic form of DVDs/CDs with a Dongle as a security lock with proprietary software, the updates for which are supplied online when the customer connects to internet. The initial supply is with a subscription for a period of 1 year, the renewal of which do not require any more supply of DVDs/ CDs but done on payment of subscription for the further period. The applicant furnished a brochure of the products. It is seen from the brochure that The Law Weekly Desktop 1.0 is the product under consideration wherein the initial supply is made in the form of DVD/CD along with a dangle and it says The complete library of The Law Weekly at your fingertips and the following features are listed to contained in the same- Full text search on catchwords, headnote Judgments published from 1914 to date including phrase search and searches with Boolean Operators for added precision; search by Case Citation, Case name, Acts and Sections, Courts, range of judgment dates, Case number; Print out of the Original Page which can be pro .....

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..... gle and the loaded software (Goods) along with license to use the same for a limited period (service). Section 2(30) of CGST Act, states that Composite Supply means a supply made by a taxable person to a recipient consisting of two or more taxable supplies of goods or services or both, or any combination thereof which are naturally bundled and supplied in conjunction with each other in the ordinary course of business, one of which is a principal supply. Applying the above to the case at hand, we find the supply of DVD/CD Dangle loaded with The Law weekly Desktop Software is an optical media loaded with software and the licence to use the software during the subscription period is a supply of service made along with the principal supply of goods in the said Composite Supply . The DVD/CD Dongle being Storage Devices containing the software is the principal supply. CTH 8523 of Customs Tariff states: 8523 Discs, tapes, solid-state non-volatile storage devices, smart cards and other media for the recording of sound or of other phenomena, whether or not recorded, including matrices and masters for the production of discs, but excluding products of chapter .....

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..... e-book given in the said entry. Furthermore, in the case at hand as held in para 6.3 above, the initial supply of DVD/CD [8523] is supply of goods and hence the Notification do not have any application. 6.5 The applicant during personal hearing has stated that the renewal is charged separately without needing any more supply of DVDs etc and also they supply an online version of it which is available on their website with access through user id- password for specific periods. The user with the password can access the database of all the case laws, judgment etc with search criteria that they can specify including the specific journal numbers etc. Supply of this access to the online database on their website is a supply of service classifiable under SAC 998431 On-line text based information such as on-line books, on-line newspapers and periodicals, on-line directories and mailing lists. As already brought out in para supra, e-book as per the explanation given in the notification itself are those books which are digitalized into a single machine readable file in any format such as .doc, .txt, .pdf etc and read on a computer or a hand held device through some specific software. In .....

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