2020 (10) TMI 813

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.... of the Act shall be binding only (a). On the applicant who had sought it in respect of any matter referred to in sub-section (2) of Section 97 for advance ruling; (b). On the concerned officer or the jurisdictional officer in respect of the applicant. 3. Under Section 103 (2) of the Act, this advance ruling shall be binding unless the law, facts or circumstances supporting the said advance ruling have changed. 4. Under Section 104 (1) of the Act, where the Appellate Authority finds that advance ruling pronounced by it under sub-section (1) of Section 101 has been obtained by the appellant by fraud or suppression of material facts or misrepresentation of facts, it may, by order, declare such ruling to be void sb-initio and thereupon all the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder shall apply to the appellant as if such advance ruling has never been made. At the outset, we would like to make it clear that the provisions of both the Central Goods and Service Tax Act and the Tamil Nadu Goods and Service Tax Act are the same except for certain provisions. Therefore, unless a mention is specifically made to such dissimilar provisions, a reference t....

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.... to be provided monthly to enable billing the US client(The details of the time sheet so provided was consolidated with the timesheet provided by the other employees of the Principal working on the project and an invoice was raised in USD on the foreign client); At the end of the month he was provided with the Billing in USD and equivalent INR value by the Finance department of the Principal, based on which he raise invoice on the Principal in INR terms with GST @18% (9% CGT + SGST@9%) separately (The Principal was availing the benefit of Export of services and filings claim accordingly with the GST authorities). Advance Ruling was sought on the following Question(modified vide their submissions dated 28.01.2020): 1. Whether the services provided by the applicant shall be treated as local services or export of services 2. Whether the applicant is liable to pay GST on such services provided to the US Client directly 3. Whether the benefit of zero-rated supply can be availed by him for his services 4. Whether he is eligible for refund of taxes already paid in the past if the refund is within the time limit provided under the GST Act. 3. The Orig....

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....te products and services of DSPL. The above two facts together make it clear there is a Principal Agent Relationship that has been overlooked by the Hon'ble Bench while arriving at the decision. (2) W.r.t the supply of services, it is a fact that GST is a destination based consumption tax. IT services are a skill based service which can only be discharged by an individual possessing the skill. It is an admitted fact that the appellant was contracted by DSPL to provide consulting services for which a contracted rated in USD was provided. Now the question that arises is, if the services were to be provided to DSPL which is an Indian Entity registered under GST why would the contract rate be denominated in USD. It could well have been contracted in INR, which is the currency in circulation in India. This points to the fact that the contract was meant for services to be provided for a foreign client. Further to the point in the order, that the services were treated to be provided to DSPL by the appellant does not hold true as if that was the case the services should have been consumed by DSPL and there would have been no need for a timesheet approval from the client of DSPL. T....

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.... to the appellant but remitted by DSPL on behalf of the client. The appellant had requested to set aside the ruling of the Original Authority and reconsider as to whether the services provided by- the appellant is a supply of services under CGST/TNGST Act or JUST Act. PERSONAL HEARING: 5. Due to the prevailing PANDEMIC situation and in order not to delay the proceedings, the appellant was addressed through the Email Address mentioned in the application to seek his willingness to participate in a virtual Personal Hearing in Digital media vide e-mail dated 17^th July 2020. The appellant responded to the said mail on 18th July 2020, wherein he stated that he did not wish to have a personal hearing and the matter may be decided based on merits available in his submissions. The appellant followed by this mail also furnished a letter in his letterhead reiterating his consent to waive the hearing and to decide the case on merits. DISCUSSIONS: 6. We have carefully considered the submissions of the Appellant and the applicable statutory provisions. The issue before us for decision is whether the service provided by the appellant is a supply of services under CGST/TNGST Act or....

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....xing statute cannot be interpreted on any presumption or assumption. A taxing statute has to be interpreted in the light of what is clearly expressed : it cannot imply anything which is not expressed : it cannot import provisions in the statute so as to supply any deficiency : (ii) Before taxing any person, it must be shown that he falls within the ambit of the charging section by clear words used in the section; and (iii) If the words are ambiguous and open to two interpretations, the benefit of interpretation is given to the subject and there is nothing unjust in a taxpayer escaping if the letter of the law fails to catch him on account of Legislature's failure to express itself clearly".: The Apex Court has stated that the Statute is to be read and understood in the light of what is expressed and nothing can be imported in the statute to overcome any deficiency and if the words are ambiguous and open to interpretations, the benefit of interpretation is given to the subject. Section 2(93) of the CGST Act 2017, defines 'recipient' as: (93) "recipient" of supply of goods or services or both, means- (a) where a consideration is payable....