2023 (9) TMI 764

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.... or circumstances supporting the original advance ruling have changed. 4. In terms of Section 104 of the Act, where the Authority finds that advance ruling pronounced by it under sub-section (4) of Section 98 or under sub-section (1) of section 101 has been obtained by the applicant by fraud or suppression of material facts or misrepresentation of facts, it may, by order, declare such ruling to be void ab initio and thereupon all the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder shall apply to the applicant as if such ruling had never been made. 5. 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 to the Central Goods and Service Tax Act would also mean a reference to the same provisions under the Tamil Nadu Goods and Service Tax Act. M/s. V.S. Trading Company. No. 71/122-A, Palaniappa Colony, Armadhanapaitv, Salem 636 002 (hereinafter called the 'Applicant') is registered under the Act with GSTIN 33AAACJ7230N 1ZJ. They have fil....

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....bers of heading 0714 or of the products of Chapter 8 i.e. of tamarind, of Singoda, mango flour, etc., (other than those put up in unit container and,- (a) Bearing a registered brand name; or (b) Bearing a brand name on which an actionable claim or enforceable right in a court of law is available (other than those where any actionable claim or enforceable right in respect of such brand name has been forgone voluntarily subject to certain conditions. For the period 01.07.2017 to 21.09.2017- (N.No. 02/2017 CT(R) dt 28.06.2017) Flour, of the dried leguminous vegetables of heading 0713 (pulses) (other than guar meal 1106 10 10 and guar gum refined split 1106 10 90), of Sago or of roots or tubers of heading 0714 or of the products of Chapter 8 i.e. of tamarind, of singoda, mango flour, etc. (Other than those put up in unit container and bearing a registered brand name. Therefore, the applicant had argued that supply of such goods i.e. tapioca flour without registered brand name is exempt from tax as the said goods are covered in the above Heading and entry in Part-A. 3.0 The State jurisdictional authority, the Assistant Commissioner (ST), Annatha....

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....e for tapioca rich in starch, the commodity will fall under the tariff item no. 1903 attracting rate of tax of 5% and will not fall under the tariff item no. 1106. 4.0 Personal hearing was held in digital platform on 16.03.2022. The Authorized Representative (AR) of the Applicant, Thiru. A. Jeyaseelam, General Secretary, Salem City Chamber of Commerce and Thiru. D. Ganapathi Subramanian, GST Practitioner, appeared for the hearing virtually and reiterated their submissions. AR stated that they are buying and selling tapioca flour. AR stated that their product falls under HSN 1106. AR also referred to the Ruling of the Tamil Nadu Advance Ruling Authority in the case of Mahalakshmi Store. AR stated that the flour traded by them is used for manufacture of gum and that the flour is sold unbranded and is exempted by classifying under HSN 1106. The Applicant was asked to furnish the following documents:- i. Write up on: ii. Manufacturing process iii. Class of sellers iv. Invoice copy of sale/purchase v. They also requested to be heard in person. 4.1 Subsequently, the applicant submitted the manufacturing process of the product (Tapioca /C....

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....ort does not arise as there is no necessity or demand for testing the said product in this line of trading. The applicant also submitted photographs of the sample products which were displayed during the personal hearing vide their letter received by the on 16.11.2022. 5.0 We have carefully examined the statement of facts, supporting documents filed by the Applicant along with application, submissions/Additional submissions made during personal hearing and thereafter the comments of the Jurisdictional Authority. The Applicant is before us seeking ruling on the following questions:- (a) Classification of goods i.e. Tapioca four obtained by crushing the dried roots, and remnants of tapioca roots/ tubers. (b) Applicability of Notifications issued under the provisions of Act in respect of goods falling under entry No. 78 and Tariff item 1106 of Part A of Exempted goods, and tariff item 1106 in SI. No. 59 of Part C in Schedule I of the said Act. (c) Determination of the liability to pay tax in respect of the said goods, tariff No. 1106 as mentioned in SI. No. 78 of Part A of Exempted goods, and Sl. No. 59 of Part C of First Schedule to the Act. (d)....

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....it container and bearing a registered brand name. 5% 5.3 The applicant has contended that the commodity dealt with by them falls under the tariff head 1106 with 'Nil' tax rate, as the same is being sold without any brand name. 5.4 Therefore, it is to be decided whether the impugned commodity for which advance ruling is sought, falls within the commodity description of tariff head 1106. 5.5 The tariff heading 1106 includes Flour, meal and powder of the dried leguminous vegetables of heading 0713 and of sago or of roots or tubers of heading 0714. Therefore, it is clear that this HSN is related to flour directly prepared by grinding dried leguminous vegetables, tubers without involving any other processing. 5.6 On the other hand, the product dealt with by the applicant is only a residue obtained during the course of starch manufacturing process from tapioca and not the flour directly prepared from tapioca root tuber. 5.7 As per the submissions put forth by the applicant, the impugned product is prepared by drying and grinding the wet residue which is nothing but the fibrous substances retained in the sieve, while extracting/filtering wet milk from grinded tapioca roo....