9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (1) TMI 1095X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (the CGST Act, for short) and the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (the WBGST Act, for short) have the same provisions in like matter except for certain provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is specifically made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference to the CGST Act would also mean reference to the corresponding similar provisions in the WBGST Act. Further to the earlier, henceforth for the purposes of these proceedings, the expression 'GST Act' would mean the CGST Act and the WBGST Act both. 1.2 The applicant Swapna Printing Works Pvt Ltd is stated to be engaged in the business of printing books and other items. The applicant submits that Jharkhand Council of Educational Research and Training, Ranchi (the JCERT, for short) has awarded contracts to him for printing and supply of text books under State Plan for academic session 2023-24 on the basis of content provided by the JCERT, printing and supply of Atlas, Dictionary, Grammar and General Knowledge Book. It is submitted that the applicant will have temporary copyright over the content of the text books against consideration to be paid in the form of royalty. The applic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nt. (c) Note book which are supplied to Assam government- It is similar to the notebook which is supplied to JCERT. It is an integral part of Assam government's curriculum, providing direct benefits to students. Furthermore, it prominently displays the designs and logos of the Assam Government. Additionally, the phrase 'NOT FOR SALE' is clearly stated in the notebook, signifying that the notebook is exclusively intended for students and not for commercial sale in the open market. 2.2 According to the agreement between the applicant and JCERT, the applicant have acquired the temporary copyright over the content of the books. By virtue of the copyright, the applicant shall be authorized to print and supply books meant for Free Distribution (that will be purchased by JCERT under the contract). Further, in case of excess sale of books, additional amount of royalty will be deposited by the applicant. 2.3 The applicant has relied on the judgement of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Tata Consultancy Service v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (2005) 1 SCC 308 wherein it was held that once the copyrighted material, is put on an physical media such as books, floppies, CDs, e ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ount, such supply would tantamount to supply of goods. Here, the applicant possess title of books and has the legal right to sell the books on his own account as per agreement with JCERT. * Further, referring section 14 of the of the Copyright Act 1957, the applicant asserts that permission to print and publish pre-determined quantity of books awarded by the/Government which retains ownership of the copyright at all times and represents a temporary transfer of copyright. Furthermore, it is submitted by the applicant that as per section 19 of the Copyright Act 1957, temporary copyright holder can avail all such rights such as printing, publishing of copyright works which are available to the copyright owner, if they have been granted such rights pursuant to the assignment/agreement. * According to the agreement, title of the books printed out of the copyrighted material would automatically stand transferred to the Government. Moreover, it is agreed between both the parties that the title to the books printed out of such copyrighted work, lies with the applicant only. Such title is transferred only pursuant to a sale by the applicant. Even though the sale price is pre-decided, no ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of personal hearing. 4.2 We first take the issue to decide whether the activities being undertaken by the applicant for printing and supply of text books would be considered as supply of goods or the same would be treated as supply of services. The applicant has submitted that JCERT has awarded contract to him for printing and supply of text books under State Plan for academic session 2023-24. As per the agreement between the applicant and the JCERT, there will be a temporary transfer of copyright of the content by JCERT for which royalty is to be paid by the applicant. The relevant part of the agreement is reproduced herein under: 'The printer will have temporary copyright over the content of the text books to be printed by him under this contract. By virtue of this copyright, the printer shall be authorized to print and supply books meant for Free Distribution (that will be purchased by JCERT under this contract). This supply/ sale shall be made by the printer on his own account to JCERT. This copyright shall only be valid for Academic Year 2023-24. In consideration of the copyright, the printer is depositing royalty as per details mentioned below: 5% royalty on Free Distr ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tax under reverse charge mechanism in respect of supplies made by JCERT for temporary transfer of copyright. 4.5 The applicant has also drawn attention to clarification given in para 4 of Circular No. 11/11/2017-GST dated 20.10.2017 issued by the Tax Research Unit, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance which reads as follows: "In the case of printing of books, pamphlets, brochures, annual reports, and the like, where only content is supplied by the publisher or the person who owns the usage rights to the intangible inputs while the physical inputs including paper used for printing belong to the printer, supply of printing [of the content supplied by the recipient of supply] is the principal supply and therefore such supplies would constitute supply of service falling under heading 9989 of the scheme of classification of services." 4.6 In this context, we are in agreement with the view taken by the applicant that the aforesaid clarification denotes that the person who owns copyright and the person who prints are separate persons. However, in the case in our hand, by virtue of temporary transfer of copyright by JCERT against payment of royalty which enables the applicant to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... y chronological list of documents, such as a calendar of wills.' As per Cambridge Dictionary, 'calendar' inter alia means a list of events and dates within a particular year that are important for an organization or for the people involved in a particular activity. It therefore appears that if a calendar is designed for a specific purpose e.g., showing the activities to be undertaken on different dates, still it bears the basic characteristic of a calendar. From the specimen copy of the calendar produced before us in course of personal hearing, we find that the calendar aims to provide parents with a simple and easy to access repository of resources and daily activity plans to promote meaningful and sustained engagements between parents and children. Undisputedly this calendar is meant for a specific group of people. But this very purpose cannot qualify the calendar to be a booklet, as contended by the applicant. 4.10 It has been clarified in para 2 of Circular No. 11/11/2017-GST dated 20.10.2017 supra that "supply of books, pamphlets, brochures, envelopes, annual reports, leaflets, cartons, boxes etc. printed with logo, design, name, address or other contents supplied by the reci ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 18 [corresponding West Bengal State Notification No. 1030 F.T. dated 27.07.2018]: For removal of doubts, it is clarified that the Central and State Educational Boards shall be treated as Educational Institution for the limited purpose of providing services by way of conduct of examination to the students. 4.13 The process of conducting examination includes pre-examination works, the examination itself and post-examination works and for that purpose, printing of comprehensive report progress card may be treated as services relating to conduct of examination. However, in the instant case, the supply is provided to Education Department, Government of Assam and not to an educational institution. We are therefore of the opinion that the instant supply shall not be covered under the aforesaid entry for exemption. 4.14 In regard to supply of notebooks, the applicant submits that it is a fundamental element of JCERT's curriculum, directly benefiting students, and featuring all the designs and logos of the Jharkhand Government. From the documents as produced, we find that the applicant has been awarded a contract by Jharkhand Education Project Council for printing/supply of 80 pages ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... pply of services which does not involve any supply of goods can be regarded as pure services. The said entry serial, therefore, specifically excludes works contract services or other composite supplies involving supply of any goods. On the other hand, to qualify to be a supply under serial number 3A above, a composite supply, subject to fulfilment of other conditions as specified in the said entry, would be such that the maximum value of involvement of goods is less than 25% of the total value of the said composite supply. 4.17 As the supplies of printed text books, notebooks, activity calendar and comprehensive progress report card involves supply of paper, ink, binding and packing materials etc., such supplies would not come under serial number 3 of the notification supra. Further, the applicant has not furnished any documents wherefrom the value of goods involved in the supply can be ascertained. We, therefore, refrain to pronounce any ruling on this issue. In view of above, we rule as under: RULING The items supplied by the applicant shall be treated as follows: (i) Printing and supply of text book to JCERT shall be treated as supply of goods. (ii) Printing and supply o ..... 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