TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2025 (2) TMI 1259
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....r referred to as applicant), registered under the AP Goods & Services Tax Act, 2017. 3. Brief Facts of the case: i). M/s Sprint Exports Pvt Ltd (the Applicant/the Company), has been engaged in the business of processing and exporting of shrimp. The applicant procures raw shrimp locally from farmers and processes it at the factory. Shrimp processing includes washing, de-veining, peeling, de-heading, tail removal, sorting, grading, and freezing. However, further processing can be done independently based on the customer's requirements to produce the desired results. In the freezing procedure, the applicant employs two distinct freezing techniques to preserve the processed shrimp: • Individual Quick Freezing (IQF) • Block Freezing. ii) Processed frozen shrimp are packaged separately in accordance with the buyer's specifications. The Applicant employs the following packaging methods: a) Primary Packaging: The final product is packed into individual pouches or boxes, weighing between approximately 250 grams and 2.5 kilograms. b) Secondary Packaging: The aforementioned pouches or boxes (i.e, primary packaging) are placed into master ca....
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....ainer are. (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 foregone voluntarily], subject to the conditions as in the ANNEXURE]" ii) From 13.07.2022, the above entry was amended vide Notification No. 06/2012-CGST(R) and same is reads as below, "All goods (other than fresh or chilled), pre-packaged and labelled" iii) Vide explanation in the notification, the expression 'pre-packaged and labelled' means a 'pre-packaged commodity' as defined in clause of section 2 of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (1 of 2010) where, the package in which the commodity is pre-packed or a label securely affixed thereto is required to bear the declarations under the provisions of the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 (1 of 2010) and the rules made thereunder. iv) As per Section 2(1) of the Legal Metrology Act 2009, the term "pre-packaged commodity" means a commodity which without the purchaser being present is placed in a package of whatever nature, whether sealed or not, so that....
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....able on specified goods (namely Shrimps) where the pre-packaged commodity is supplied in packages containing a quantity of less than or equal to 25 kgs b) Pre-packaged and labeled commodities processed exclusively for export have not been excluded from the Legal Metrology Act, 2009 and rules made there under. Therefore, we understand that GST would be applicable on the supply of processed frozen shrimp in packages of up to 25 Kg, irrespective of the fact that the said supply is meant for domestic sale or export. 7. Personal Hearing: The proceedings of Personal Hearing was conducted on 21.01.2025, for which the authorized representative, Sri Ramesh Pathuri, Charted Accountant has appeared and reiterated the facts narrated in their application. 8. Discussion and Findings: 8.1 We have carefully gone through the submissions made by the applicant in the advance ruling application, the additional submissions made during the personal hearing and judgements made by the Hon'ble Courts in the same issue. 8.2 From the submissions made at the time of filing the application, it is seen that the applicant M/s Sprint Exports Pvt Ltd (the Applicant/the Company), has been....
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....e course of inter-State trade or commerce. Section 5 of the IGST Act, 2017, envisages that "Subject to the provisions of sub-Section (2), there shall be levied a tax called the integrated goods and services tax on all inter-State supplies of goods or services or both, except on the supply of alcoholic liquor for human consumption, on the value determined under section 15 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act and at such rates, not exceeding forty per cent., as may be notified by the Government on the recommendations of the Council and collected in such manner as may be prescribed and shall be paid by the taxable person." Accordingly, it may be noted that all exports are to be deemed as inter-state supplies', and as per Section 16 of the IGST Act, 2017, export of goods or services or both are to be treated as Zero Rated Supplies'. It may be noted here that the exporter has the option either to export under Bond/Letter of Undertaking without payment of tax and claim refund of unutilised input tax credit or pay IGST at the time of export and claim refund of the same, as the case may be. 8.5 The point for determination here is as to whether the export of specified pr....
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....quantity it immediately attains the characteristics of pre-packaged and labelled' category, meant for retail sale, irrespective of the fact whether the outer packaging is printed or not. Under these circumstances, the inner packaging which ranges from 250 grams to 2 kilograms becomes liable to GST, as the same fall within the ambit of 'pre-packaged and labelled' category which is mandated to bear the declarations. 8.7 The above fact regarding the levy of GST as "pre-packaged and labelled" gets validated through the FAQs dated 18.07.2022 issued by the CBIC which has a persuasive value while interpretation the legal provisions. Under the said "FAQs on GST applicability on 'pre-packaged and labelled' goods", the relevant clarification under SI.No.4, goes as below :- S.No Question Clarification 4 Whether GST would apply to a package that contains multiple retail packages. For example, a package containing 10 retail packs of flour of 10 Kg each? Yes, if several packages intended for retail sale to ultimate consumer, say 10 packages of 10 Kg each, are sold in a larger pack, then GST would apply to such supply. Such package may be sold by a manufacturer through distri....