Advance ruling barred when the same tax issue was already pending before the jurisdictional authority.

An advance ruling application on the classification of chewing tobacco and the applicability of compensation cess was held not maintainable because the same question was already pending before the jurisdictional authority in the applicant's case. As proceedings had been initiated and a show cause notice issued for short payment of compensation cess before the application was filed, the first proviso to Section 98(2) of the CGST/TNGST Act, 2017 barred admission of the request. The authority therefore declined to examine the merits and rejected the application.

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Issues: Whether the advance ruling application was maintainable when the same question was already pending in proceedings before the jurisdictional authority.

Analysis: The application sought a ruling on the classification of chewing tobacco and the applicability of compensation cess. Before the advance ruling application was filed, the jurisdictional authority had already initiated proceedings on the very same issue and issued a show cause notice for short payment of compensation cess. Under the first proviso to Section 98(2) of the CGST/TNGST Act, 2017, an application cannot be admitted where the question raised is already pending or decided in any proceeding in the applicant's case under the Act. Since the issue was already pending, the authority declined to examine the merits.

Conclusion: The application was not maintainable and was rejected under the first proviso to Section 98(2) of the CGST/TNGST Act, 2017.

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