TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (2) TMI 1352
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....e 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. 1. The applicant submitted a copy of Electronic Cash Ledger evidencing payment of application fees of Rs. 5,000/- each under sub-rule (1) of Rule 104 of CGST Rules 2017 and SGST Rules 2017. 2.1 The applicant, a GST Registrant....
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....Services" in nature falling under chapter heading 99, as specified in SI. No. 3 of the exemption Notification No. 12/2017 dated 28.07.2017. • However, to claim exemption from payment of GST, such services are to be provided to Central Government, State Government, local authority or Governmental authority, by way of an activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Panchayat under Article 243G of the Constitution, or in relation to any function entrusted to a Municipality under Article 243W of the Constitution. • With respect to the question whether M/s. Tumkur Smart City Corporation is a "Governmental authority", it is seen that the said body is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) owned by M/s. Tumkur City Corporation and Karnataka State Government in 50 : 50 ratio, and accordingly, M/s. Tumkur Smart City Corporation cannot be considered as a "Governmental Authority". • As the applicant is providing service to M/s. Tumkur Smart City Corporation which is not a governmental authority as per the definition provided in para 2(zf) of Notification No. 12/2017 dated 28.07.2017, the exemption is not available to them. 4. The jurisdictional State ....
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....further undertook to furnish any other clarification/document in relation to this application as and when called for by the Advance Ruling authorities. DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS 7.1 We have carefully considered the submissions made by the applicant in the advance ruling application, the additional submissions made during the personal hearing and the comments furnished by the 'CENTER' Tax Authorities. The applicant filed advance ruling application under Section 97(2) of GST Act, 2017. 7.2 From the submissions made at the time of filing the application, it is seen that the applicant who are into Solid Waste Management services, has been assigned with the task of "Remediation of open dump and reclamation of open dump and reclamation of space at Ajjagondanahalli, Tumakuru" by M/s. Tumakuru City Corporation, Tumakuru - 572102. Under these circumstances, the applicant had sought an advance ruling, on the following aspects, viz., 1. Classification of the services provided by the applicant. 2. Whether services provided by the applicant are exempted under SI. No. 3 of Notification No. 12/2017 dated 28.07.2017 as amended? 3. Whether the service recip....
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....u" in the letter head, whereas the identity of the signing authority has been referred as "Executive Engineer, Tumkur City Corporation, Tumkur" in the same letter. From online resources, it is seen that 'Tumkur' was officially renamed as 'Tumakuru' in the year 2014. Therefore, wherever the reference 'Tumkur' appears in this text, the same may be taken to mean 'Tumakuru'. 8.4 Moreover, since two entities/bodies viz., M/s. Tumakuru City Corporation and M/s. Tumakuru Smart City Limited are involved in the instant ease, it becomes imperative to analyse the respective roles of these bodies in relation to the transactions involved in this issue, in order to proceed further in this ease. 8.5 As could be seen from the Agreement dated 30.12.2021 for the project in question, that the same has been executed by the Executive Engineer, Tumkur City Corporation, Tumkur as the Employer, with M/s. Gorantla Geosynthetics Private Limited, Chennai-600034, as the Contractor. Further the 'Notice to proceed with the work' vide Letter No. TSCL/TENDER/CR/83/2020-21 dated 30.12.2021 has also been issued by the Executive Engineer, Tumkur City Corporation, Tumkur.....
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....ublic limited company incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, in which the State and the Urban Local body will be the promoters having 50:50 equity shareholdings. 8.8 In view of the detailed discussions above, and in view of the fact that Authority-1 (TCC) had authorized Authority-2 (TSCL) to invite tenders for the said project, it becomes clear that M/s. Tumakuru Smart City Limited is only a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) created specifically to facilitate the Parties for seamless execution of the project, and to make payments to the selected Agency/contractor, on approval of the bill by Authority-1 (TCC). Accordingly, it becomes clear that in the instant case, M/s. Tumakuru City Corporation is the principal/service recipient, in as much as they are the body that has entered into a project agreement dated 30.12.2021 with M/s.Gorantla Geosynthetics Private Limited, who are the contractor/service provider. 9.1 Moving on to the services rendered by the applicant, it is seen that the technical specification of the project to be carried out has been mentioned as "Remediation of open dump and reclamation of open dump and reclamation of space at Ajjagondanahalli, Tumakuru". The ....
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....'Bio mining' refers to an environment friendly technique to separate soil and recyclables like plastic, metal, paper, textiles, Construction & Demolition waste materials and other solid materials from legacy waste. From the terms of the Agreement relating to 'Project Scope' in particular, we find that the applicant is involved in 'reclamation of land parcel (at Ajjagondananhalli) of an existing dumpsite through Bio miming' and 'disposal of the output (Waste fractions) from the processing operation', whereby the applicant is expected to process approximately 77,500 cubic meters of legacy waste. 9.3 Accordingly, it becomes clear that the applicant is a Solid Waste Management company which offers solutions involving segregation, treatment, recycling of Legacy Waste and thus clearing and reclaiming the landfills. In the process, the applicant is also expected to dispose of the waste fractions from the processing operation scientifically in compliance with the applicable legal provisions. In short, applicant is seen to have been involved in 'Waste treatment and disposal services', and 'Site Remediation Services'. Under these circumstanc....
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.... the second query relating to the exemption provided under SI. No. 3 of the Notification No. 12/2017 CT dated 28.06.2017, as amended, it is seen that the entry at SI. No. 3 of the said Notification, reads as below Sl. No. Chapter, Section, Heading, Group or Service Code (Tariff) Description of Services Rate (per cent.) Condition 3 Chapter 99 Pure services (excluding works contract service or other composite supplies involving supply of any goods) provided to the Central Government, State Government or Union territory or local authority by way of any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Panchayat under article 243G of the Constitution or in relation to any function entrusted to a Municipality under article 243W of the Constitution. Nil Nil From the above, it is observed that in order to be eligible for exemption under the said category of service, the following conditions are required to be satisfied, viz., * The services must be pure services; * The services should be provided to Central Government, State Government or Union Territory, a local authority or a governmental authority; * The pure services must b....
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.... (a) a Nagar Panchayat (by whatever name called) for a transitional area, that is to say, an area in transition from a rural area to an urban area; (b) a Municipal Council for a smaller urban area; and (c) a Municipal Corporation for a larger urban area, in accordance with, the provisions of this Part: Provided that a Municipality under this clause may not be constituted in such urban area or part thereof as the Governor may, having regard to the size of the area and the municipal services being provided or proposed to be provided by an industrial establishment in that area and such other factors as he may deem fit, by public notification, specify to be an industrial township. (2) In this article, "a transitional area", "a smaller urban area" or "a larger urban area" means such area as the Governor may, having regard to the population of the area, the density of the population therein, the revenue generated for local administration, the percentage of employment in non agricultural activities, the economic importance or such other factors as he may deem fit, specify by public notification for the purposes of this Part. 9.9 By virtue of Governm....
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....ties are given under Rule 15. Sub-clause (zj) to Rule 15 reads as - "investigate and analyze all open dumpsites and existing operational dumpsites for their potential bio-mining and bio-remediation and wheresoever feasible, take necessary actions, to bio-mine or bio-remediate the sites;" 9.12 We therefore find that the services rendered by the applicant in the instant case happens to be 'Pure Services' provided to Tumakuru City Corporation which is a 'Local Authority', by way of any activity in relation to any function entrusted to a Municipality under article 243W of the Constitution. Accordingly, we conclude that the services provided by the applicant to the Tumakuru City Corporation is exempted under SI. No. 3 of Notification 12/2017 dated 28.07.2017, as amended. 9.13 The third query raised by the applicant is "Whether the service recipient i.e., M/s. Tumkur Smart city Corporation is a "Governmental Authority" as per the definition of Notification No. 12/2017 CT dated 28.06.2017?". We find that under this query, the applicant has sought a clarification on M/s. Tumkur Smart City Limited, which has been referred to as M/s. Tumkur Smart city Corporati....