Admissibility of advance ruling on GST threshold exemption for medical supplies rejected because identical proceedings were already pending

Admissibility of an advance ruling was denied because identical issues were already the subject of pending assessment proceedings. The authority reasoned that notices and adjudication orders preceded the applicant's effective filing: an assessment notice and GST scrutiny occurred before or contemporaneously with the online filing, and the manual filing with required signed enclosures was completed only after departmental insistence and significant delay. Procedural guidance on manual filing was noted but did not cure the timing defect. Because the first proviso to the advance ruling admissibility provision bars applications where proceedings on the same question are pending, the AAR rejected the application.

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Issues: Whether the Advance Ruling application filed by the applicant is admissible under Section 98(2) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 where proceedings (scrutiny/assessment and adjudication) on the same question were already pending/initiated before the tax authorities.

Analysis: The application for advance ruling was filed online on 27-04-2023 but scrutiny/assessment proceedings (including issuance of Form GST ASMT-10) had been initiated on 24-02-2023. Adjudication orders in FORM GST DRC-07 confirming demands for the relevant periods were subsequently passed. Section 98(2) precludes admission of an advance ruling application where the question raised is already pending in any proceedings in the case of the applicant. Rule 107A and Circular No.25/25/2017-GST permit manual filing where applicable, but manual filing on 19-06-2025 after departmental insistence does not cure the fact that proceedings on the same issue preceded the application. The advance ruling sought concerns tax liability for periods covered by ongoing scrutiny and adjudication; accordingly the first proviso to Section 98(2) applies.

Conclusion: The Advance Ruling application is rejected as not admissible under the first proviso to Section 98(2) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 because proceedings on the same question were already pending at the time of filing.

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