TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2024 (3) TMI 740
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....ll be made, unless the appellant has been given an opportunity of being heard. 2. Under Section 103(1) of the Act, this Advance ruling pronounced by the Appellate Authority under Chapter XVII 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 ab-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 Servi....
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....rs the goods from the port by filing Bill of Entry on behalf of the Appellant and stores the same in the warehouse. The FTWZ unit hands over the import invoice and other necessary documents to the Appellant. The FTWZ unit does not pay any import duty on clearance from the port. • The Appellant transfers the title of goods to customer under the cover of an invoice. The customer shall either clear goods from the FTWZ or shall make further transfer of such goods to other customers. It is important to note that every transfer of title of goods does not result in physical delivery of goods. The goods shall continue to remain in FTWZ unit holder till the final customer files BOE and clears goods from FTWZ. The Applicant wishes to highlight that multiple transfers are made while goods are lying in FTWZ. • The final customer, produces transfer of title document and files BOE for re-warehousing (SEZ) / home consumption (others) and clears the goods from the FTWZ. At this juncture goods are removed from the warehouse and is taken to the premises of the Customer. 2.3. In the above background, the Appellant had approached Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR), Tamil N....
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....er Customs Act, 1962. Therefore, the transactions in the FTWG narrated in question no.1 of the ARA , will not be covered under Schedule III of CGST Act, 2017 readwith CGST Amendment Act, 2018." 3. Aggrieved of the decision of AAR in the Order No: 23/ARA/2023 dated: 20.06.2023, M/s HAWORTH INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED preferred the subject appeal. The grounds of appeal, they stated, inter alia, as follows: • The Impugned Ruling has failed to address the question in entirety by restricting its finding to 'whether or not the proposed transaction is covered under paragraph 8(a) of Schedule III to GST Act, 2017'. • The Ld. AAR, has not answered the question in the Impugned Ruling and has acted in contravention of Section 98(4) of the GST Act, 2017 and therefore, the Impugned Ruling is liable to be set aside and in this regard reliance was placed on the case of Kasturba Health Society v. Union of India, W.P. No. 1745 of 2020 Order dated 13.09.2021 (Bombay High Court) • Reliance is placed on Columbia Sportswear Company v. Director of Income Tax - 2012 (8) TMI 105 - Supreme Court, wherein the Hon'ble Supreme Court dealt with the preliminary qu....
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....dvance Rulings passed by Tamil Nadu Advance Ruling Authority in case of: - The Bank of Nova Scotia - Order No. 23/AAR/2018 dated 31.12.2018 - Sadesa Commercial Offshore De Macau Limited - Order No. 24/AAR/2018 dated 31.12.2018 • The above Rulings were rendered in favour of the Appellant, wherein it was held that transfer of ownership in FTWZ/ customs bonded warehouse prior to clearance for home consumption or removal of goods from FTWZ/ customs bonded warehouse is outside the purview of GST and is not subjected to provisions of GST and that the supplier need not have to charge GST on transfer of title or sale of goods in FTWZ. • Therefore, the proposed transactions are covered under paragraph 8(a) of Schedule III to GST Act, 2017 and the Impugned Ruling merits to be modified, and that the Appellant's transactions are neither supply of goods, nor supply of services and that IGST is not leviable. • The AAR had acted inconsistently that in the above Rulings, for the same issue, the rulings were in favour of the applicants; though the rulings have been rendered in relation to other assessees, the decisions are on interpretati....
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.... in a warehouse • Provisions of the SEZ Act, 2005 read with relevant SEZ Rules, 2006 provides as under a) Sec 7 provides for exemption from duties, taxes and cesses; b) Sec 26 provides for exemptions from Customs Duties to FTWZ; c) Sec 51 has an overriding effect that notwithstanding anything inconsistent therewith contained in any other law for the time being in force ; d) Rule 27(10) of the SEZ Rules provides that: The Assessment of imports and domestic procurement by a Developer or a Unit, shall be on the basis of self-declaration. e) Rule 75 of the SEZ Rules says that the goods in the FTWZ shall be dealt with on the basis of self-declaration • The AAR in Telangana in the matter of AIE Fibre (2021 (12) TMI 1265 - Authority for Advance Ruling, Telangana) has held that the goods warehoused in the FTWZ are warehoused goods for the purpose of the Customs Act, 1962 and would be covered by the relevant entry 8 in Sch III of the CGST Act. • Intention of the legislature to consider FTWZ like a customs warehouse is also clear from the documentation and procedures i.e., Form-II (Bill of entry for warehousi....
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....nce, the Appellant prayed that the Appellate Authority may pass orders to set aside impugned order under Appeal and pass such other orders, as deemed fit. PERSONAL HEARING: 5. The Appellant was given an opportunity to be heard vide virtual hearing on 11.12.2023. The Authorized Representative (AR), Shri S Thirumalai, Advocate, appeared for the virtual hearing and reiterated the submissions made in their grounds of appeal as well as in their additional submissions submitted on 11.12.2023. DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS: 6.1 We have carefully considered all the material on record, the various submissions made by the Appellant and the applicable statutory provisions. The Appellant is before us, seeking to set aside/modify the Ruling given by the Authority for Advance Ruling (hereinafter referred to as 'AAR') and pass any such order(s) as deemed fit and proper. We observe that the main contention of the Appellant is that goods stored in FTWZ will be covered under the scope of Schedule III of the CGST Act, 2017. 6.2 We find that the Appellant is proposing to import, store the goods in FTWZ, transfer the title of the goods within the FTWZ, during which time the goods conti....
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....ated outside India but before clearance for home consumption." Further, the Appellant in their additional submissions, has stated inter alia that, specifically mentioning that SEZ Act, 2005 by way of referential legislation has adopted the meaning of "warehousing" from the Customs Act, 1962 for purpose of the said Act. The Appellant has also placed reliance on the ruling No. 30/2021 dated 24.12.2021 passed by the AAR, Telengana in the case of M/s AIE Fiber Resource and Trading (India) Private Limited, wherein it was held that the transactions proposed to be made in a FTWZ are covered under Entry 8 of Schedule III of the CGST Act, 2017 and do not attract tax under CGST/SGST/IGST Acts. 6.5 We find, in respect of the second question, in the grounds of appeal, the appellant stated that the question no longer proves to be of relevance as the Circular No. 3/01/2018 - Integrated Tax (IGST) dated 25.05.2018 has been rescinded. Therefore, the question no.2 does not survive. Hence, we observe that the present appeal is in respect of question no.l only raised in the original application. 6.6. We notice from the discussion held in the AAR ruling in the subject case, the AAR had discus....
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....of said Schedule, which is also relevant provision of law to the activity proposed to be undertaken by the Appellant, when the Appellant had raised the question in general as to whether their proposed activity would be covered under Schedule III of the CGST Act, 2017. Further, we find that the Appellant has brought in points regarding FTWZ to be treated as Customs bonded warehouse in their original application which were not discussed in the ruling passed by the AAR. Also, the AAR has not discussed about the Advance rulings pronounced by the TN AAR in similar issues, which were cited by the Appellant in their original application. 6.9. Further, at the time of virtual hearing held on 11.12.2023, the AR was requested to state whether the approval/ licence/ monitoring of the FTWZ unit is governed by the SEZ Act or Customs Act for which the AR stated that he would examine and submit his reply. This is a moot point which needs to be decided, so that whether FTWZ unit can be classified as customs bonded warehouse. This ought to have been examined by the lower authority, considering the specific grounds submitted by the Appellant. 6.10. Therefore, we are of the considered opinion th....