Advance ruling fee compliance determines maintainability; incomplete prescribed payment renders the application invalid and rejectable at threshold.

An advance ruling application had to be filed in FORM GST ARA-01 with the prescribed fee under both the CGST Act and the Gujarat GST Act. On a combined reading of the provisions, the fee was the aggregate of the amounts payable under the Central and State enactments. Because the applicant paid only part of the required fee and did not deposit the full prescribed amount, the application was invalid and liable to rejection at the threshold. The application was therefore held not maintainable and rejected.

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Issues: Whether the advance ruling application was maintainable in the absence of payment of the full prescribed fee.

Analysis: The application for advance ruling had to be filed in FORM GST ARA-01 and accompanied by the prescribed fee under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and the Gujarat Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. On a combined reading of the relevant provisions, the fee payable was the aggregate of the amounts prescribed under the Central and State enactments. The applicant had paid only Rs. 5,000 and had not deposited the total fee of Rs. 10,000 required for a valid application. The non-payment of the complete fee rendered the application invalid and liable to rejection at the threshold.

Conclusion: The advance ruling application was not maintainable and was rejected.

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