TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2023 (6) TMI 8
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....propriate writ(s), order(s) or direction(s) in the nature thereof to direct the Respondents to accept the application filed by the Petitioner and issue a discharge certificate in favor of Petitioner under the Sabka Vishwas - (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019;" 2. The petitioner is, essentially, aggrieved by the decision of the Designated Committee (respondent no. 3) to reject its application dated 27.08.2019 under the Sabka Vishwas (Legacy Dispute Resolution) Scheme, 2019 (hereafter 'the Scheme'). The impugned decision dated 03.02.2020 was reflected on the online portal. The reasons for the rejection are discernable from the remarks, which read as under: "According the letter from DGGI (Chennai), it appears that the demand was not finally quantified nor communicated to the party on or before 30.06.2019. Therefore, the case merits rejection" 3. The petitioner claims that there is no controversy as to the amount of tax dues and the computation of the amount of excise duty that was provided to the concerned authorities. The petitioner had also paid the duty, interest and penalty at the rate of 15% of tax, albeit under the GST Registration Number pertaining to its....
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....d that after receipt of the said goods, the petitioner undertakes the process of packaging and labelling/ re-labelling. 10. The respondents also questioned him on the nature of the business transaction with M/s Aryaman Soap Industry and whether the petitioner undertook any manufacturing activity in respect of the goods (soaps) received from M/s Aryaman Soap Industry. Mr Atul Shukla stated that the petitioner was engaged in trading of goods and the petitioner was not aware that packaging or re-packaging, labeling or re-labeling of goods amounts to manufacture. He stated that the petitioner had become aware of the same only after visits from the officers at their premises. He was also called upon to provide the details in respect of clearance of soaps received from M/s Aryaman Soap Industry, which he readily provided. The relevant questions and the response of Mr Atul Shukla are reproduced below: "Question No. 3: Please explain the nature of business transactions with M/s Aryaman Soap Industry? Answer: M/s Aryaman soap Industry is a soap manufacturing Company situated in Solan (Himachal Pradesh), we commenced the business activity from the month of January 2014. ....
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....erfumers, M/s. Merville Trust, M/s. Maroma, M/s. Azafran Organics etc. we receive shampoos, face pack, incense stick etc from these vendors. They are received in fully packed condition ready for sale and we do not undertake any activity of packing or re-packing or labelling in respect of these goods." 11. It is not disputed that Mr Shukla (the petitioner's Warehouse Manager) provided all necessary details as required by the DGGI officials. The petitioner claims that its finance team worked with the DGGI officials and submitted all necessary data and information for verification of the calculation of the amount of duty that was not paid in the belief that no duty was payable on packing and labelling soaps supplied by one of the vendors. 12. Admittedly, the petitioner sent an email dated 29.05.2019, forwarding a tabular statement, which included the taxable value of goods cleared during the relevant period, the excise duty leviable on the same and the calculation of interest. The said tabular statement is set out below: ARYAMAN Sales Excise duty & Interest Working from 2014-2017 S. No. Year Taxable Value ED@ Excise Duty working value E. Cess 2% S.E. Cess....
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....with for your perusal. We are also enclosing herewith Original Challans evidencing payment of such Central Excise duty along with applicable interest for your reference. 3. Further, without prejudice, the Company has voluntarily deposited penalty of 15% of the aforesaid Excise Duty amount in terms of Section 11AC 1(d) of the erstwhile Central Excise Act, 1944. 4. In view of the above, we humbly request your goodself that investigation proceedings initiated against the Company may kindly be closed/concluded at the earliest. 5. Further in the interest of justice, we request you not to take any adverse action against the Company without granting us an opportunity of personal hearing. 6. Kindly acknowledge the receipt of this letter for our record and reference purposes. Thanking You, Yours Faithfully, For Kama Ayurveda Private Limited S/d Authorized Signatory" 15. Thereafter, on 06.06.2019, the petitioner sent an email forwarding copies of the payment challans for the excise duty, interest and penalty, and requesting for closure of the investigation. The said email sent by Mr Ravi Kumar Sah, Manager to....
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....fication of Central Excise duty liability: M/s KAPL had provided the details of the sale invoices and the price adopted by them for the clearances of the re-packed and labeled soaps made by them. The details of clearances were quantified based on the details provided by M/s KAPL and were cross verified with the sale invoices raised by the vendor. It is further seen that M/s KAPL had not charged excise duty separately in the invoices issued to the buyers. As per Explanation under Section 4 (b) of the said Act, the price actually paid shall be deemed to include the duty payable on such goods. Accordingly the sale price is treated as the cum-duty price and the duty had been calculated accordingly as detailed in the Annexure-A. The details of the clearances are as detailed below: Sl.No: Year Taxable value Rate of duty Excise duty Edu Cess SHE Cess Total 1 2014-15 (01.07.2014 to 27.02.2015) 42,16,868 12% 5,06,024 10,120 5,060 5,21,204 2 2014-15 (01.03.2015 to 31.03.2015) 4,73,101 12.5% 59,138 - - 59,138 3 2015-16 92,03,061 12.5% 11,50,382 - - 11,50,382 4 2016-17 1,17,83,046 ....
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....by them under Coimbatore assessee code cannot be adjusted for duty liability of Delhi premise of M/s KAPL. In view of the above, the request made by M/S KAPL for closure of proceedings cannot be acceded to." 18. Admittedly, there is no difference between the tax dues as quantified in the show cause notice dated 09.08.2019 and the tax dues as quantified in the communications sent by the petitioner. However, in the show cause notice, a three-month period, which was prior to five years from the date of the show cause notice, has not been considered, apparently, for the reason that it was beyond limitation. The petitioner in its calculation had included the said amount as well. 19. This Court had also called upon the respondents to produce the original files, which also indicate that at no stage, the quantification of the tax dues submitted by the petitioner was challenged, doubted or disputed. On the contrary, it is apparent that the respondents had accepted the quantification of the excise duty as disclosed by the petitioner and had proceeded on that basis. 20. As noticed above, the petitioner had, in fact, deposited the tax dues but the respondents did not accept the same s....
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....y where enquiry, investigation or audit is pending. 27. Section 123 of the Act defines the expression 'tax dues'. Clause (c) of Section 123 of the Act covers cases where enquiry or investigation or audit is pending. It specifies that the tax dues in such cases would be the amount of duty payable, which has been quantified on/or before 30.06.2019. Clause (c) of Section 123 of the Act reads as under: "123. For the purposes of the Scheme, "tax dues" means- xx xx xx (c) where an enquiry or investigation or audit is pending against the declarant, the amount of duty payable under any of the indirect tax enactment which has been quantified on or before the 30th day of June, 2019." 28. The expression 'quantified' is defined in Section 121(r) of the Act, which reads as under: "121. In this Scheme, unless the context otherwise requires, - *** *** *** (r) ''quantified", with its cognate expression, means a written communication of the amount of duty payable under the indirect tax enactment;" 29. The controversy involved in the present petition is squarely covered by the recent decision of this Court in Hans Uttam Finance Limited v....