TMI Blog2023 (8) TMI 174X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ly of goods and services to the appellant who had made payment of tax to the fourth respondent at the time of effecting such purchase along with the value of supply of goods/ services. However, in some of the invoices of the said supplier was not reflected in the GSTR 2A of the appellant for the Financial Year 2017-18. The first respondent issued notices for recovery of the input tax credit availed by the appellant and the grievance of the appellant is that without conducting any enquiry on the supplier namely, the fourth respondent and without effecting any recovery from the fourth respondent, the first respondent was not justified in proceeding against the appellant. It is seen that a scrutiny of the return submitted by the appellant was made under Section 61 of the Act for the Financial Year 2017-18 which was followed by a notice dated 03.08.2022 stating that certain discrepancies were noticed. The appellant had submitted their reply dated 24.08.2022. Thereafter the appellant was served with the show-cause notice dated 06.12.2022 proposing a demand as to the excess ITC claimed by the appellant for the Financial Year 2017-18 on the basis of the difference of the amount of IT ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the supplier and a valid tax invoice has been issued by the fourth respondent for installation and commission services and the appellant had made payment to the fourth respondent within the time stipulated under the provisions of the Act. Thus, grievance of the appellant is that despite having fulfilled all the conditions as has been enumerated under Section 16(2) of the Act, the first respondent erred in reversing the credit availed and directing the appellant to deposit the tax which has already been paid to the fourth respondent at the time of availing the goods/ services. In support of his contention, the learned Counsel for the appellant had placed reliance on the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Union of India (UOI) Versus Bharti Airtel Ltd. And Ors. (2022) 4 SCC 328. The learned Advocate for the appellant also placed reliance on the press release dated 18.10.2018 issued by the Central Board of Indirect Tax and Customs and also the press release dated 04.05.2018 to substantiate their argument that the ground on which the first respondent had passed the impugned order of recovery of tax is wholly unsustainable. 5. In the press release dated 18.10.2018 a clarification ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... vernment or has been lawfully adjusted against output tax liability and correctly reflected in the return filed for the respective tax period, would not be eligible for claim of ITC. The question that arose for consideration was as to whether for the default committed by the selling dealer can the purchasing dealer be made to bear the consequences of the denying the ITC and whether it is the violation of Article 14 of the Constitution. After taking note of the language used in Section 9(2)(g) of the DVAT Act where the expression "dealer or class of dealers" occurring in Section 9(2)(g) of the DVAT Act should be interpreted as not including a purchasing dealer who has bona fide entered into purchase transaction with validly registered selling dealer who have issued tax invoices in accordance with Section 15 of the said Act where there is no mismatch of transactions in Annexures 2A and 2B and unless the expression "dealer or class of dealers" in Section 9(2)(g) is read down in the said manner, the entire provision would have to be held to be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. It was further held that the result of such reading down would be that the department is precluded ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... supplier. The appellant had pointed out that they are in possession of a valid tax invoice and payment details to the supplier have been substantiated by producing the tax invoice and the bank statement. The appellant also referred to the press release dated 18.10.2018. What we find is that the first respondent has not conducted any enquiry on the fourth respondent supplier more particularly when clarification has been issued where furnishing of outward details in Form GSTR 1 by a corresponding supplier and the facility to view the same in Form GSTR 2A by the recipient is in the nature of tax payer facilitation and does not impact the ability of the tax payers to avail input tax credit on self-assessment basis in consonance with the provisions of Section 16 of the Act. Furthermore, it was clarified that there shall not be any automatic reversal of input tax credit from buyer on non-payment of tax by seller. Further it is clarified that in case of default in payment of tax by the seller recovery shall be made from the seller however, reversal of credit from the buyer shall also be an option available with the revenue authorities to address the exceptional situations like missing de ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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