9911796707
TMI Blog2024 (10) TMI 442X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... has now clearly disclosed an additional bank account maintained at Bangalore. That these remittances are connected with the services rendered by the Delhi BO to VGSL was neither questioned nor doubted by the respondents. The objection as taken thus clearly appears to be overly technical and unsustainable. The argument based on sub-sections (4) and (5) is equally misconceived. One must bear in mind that the CGST Act is principally concerned with the levy of a tax on intra-State supply of goods and thus presupposes the possibility of an entity having more than one establishment or a place of business in different States of the Union. It is this basic objective of the enactment that informs subsections (4) and (5) of Section 25 and the Legislature thus, out of abundant caution, having overridden the otherwise jurisprudential precept of branch offices not being separate and distinct juridical entities. The impugned Order-in-Appeal dated 07 June 2022 which had upheld the Order-in-Original dated 29 June 2021 is quashed - petition allowed. - HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE YASHWANT VARMA AND HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAVINDER DUDEJA For the Petitioner Through: Ms. Fereshte Sethna Mr. Ameya Pant, ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... the claim for refund was rightly negated since the payment for such service was not received by the asserted supplier. 5. Ms. Bhatnagar, learned counsel appearing for the respondents has taken us through Section 2 (6) of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 [IGST Act] which defines export of services in the following terms:- 2. Definitions xxxx xxxx xxxx (6) export of services means the supply of any service when,- (i) the supplier of service is located in India; (ii) the recipient of service is located outside India; (iii) the place of supply of service is outside India; (iv) the payment for such service has been received by the supplier of service in convertible foreign exchange [or in Indian rupees wherever permitted by the Reserve Bank of India]; and (v) the supplier of service and the recipient of service are not merely establishments of a distinct person in accordance with Explanation 1 in section 8; 6. Our attention was also drawn to Section 25 of the CGST Act and which, while making provisions for separate registrations being obtained by establishments in different States, makes the following provisions:- 25. Procedure for registration (1) Every person who is lia ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d Collection Account Number issued under the said Act in order to be eligible for grant of registration. [(6A) Every registered person shall undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number, in such form and manner and within such time as may be prescribed: Provided that if an Aadhaar number is not assigned to the registered person, such person shall be offered alternate and viable means of identification in such manner as Government may, on the recommendations of the Council, prescribe: Provided further that in case of failure to undergo authentication or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or furnish alternate and viable means of identification, registration allotted to such person shall be deemed to be invalid and the other provisions of this Act shall apply as if such person does not have a registration. (6B) On and from the date of notification, every individual shall, in order to be eligible for grant of registration, undergo authentication, or furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number, in such manner as the Government may, on the recommendations of the Council, specify in the said notification: Provided that if an Aadhaar number is not a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... her person or class of persons, as may be notified by the Commissioner, shall be granted a Unique Identity Number in such manner and for such purposes, including refund of taxes on the notified supplies of goods or services or both received by them, as may be prescribed. (10) The registration or the Unique Identity Number shall be granted or rejected after due verification in such manner and within such period as may be prescribed. (11) A certificate of registration shall be issued in such form and with effect from such date as may be prescribed. (12) A registration or a Unique Identity Number shall be deemed to have been granted after the expiry of the period prescribed under sub-section (10), if no deficiency has been communicated to the applicant within that period. 7. Reliance was essentially placed on sub-sections (4), (5) and (6) of Section 25 of the CGST Act to contend that once a person obtains a registration in a State or Union Territory in respect of an establishment, such establishments are liable to be treated as establishments of distinct persons for the purposes of the statute. This, according to Ms. Bhatnagar, thus constitutes a departure from the general principle o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ishment elsewhere), the location of such fixed establishment; (c) where a supply is made from more than one establishment, whether the place of business or fixed establishment, the location of the establishment most directly concerned with the provision of the supply; and (d) in absence of such places, the location of the usual place of residence of the supplier; 12. It is apparent from a reading of the aforesaid provision that the location of the supplier, in the facts of the present case, would undoubtedly be the Delhi BO of the petitioner. Merely because the remittance was received in a bank account situate at Bangalore, the same would neither warrant the location of the supplier identified in accordance with Section 2 (15) being altered nor impact the determination of the actual supplier of service. 13. Similar would be the position which would obtain if one were to test the validity of the objection taken on the anvil of the provisions enshrined in the CGST Act. The phrase location of the supplier of services is defined in that enactment by Section 2 (71) in the following terms:- (71) location of the supplier of services means, (a) where a supply is made from a place of busine ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
