Rakkimuthu Ramesh Vs Asst. Commissioner of State Tax (Kerala High Court)
The Kerala High Court held that no willful tax evasion could be alleged where a supplier reported a sale in March while the purchaser claimed input tax credit (ITC) in April returns due to receipt of goods in the subsequent financial year. The petitioner, a registered taxpayer engaged in the business of plastic, purchased goods on 30.03.2018 and 31.03.2018 from an out-of-State supplier. Although the purchases were effected in March 2018, the goods were received only in April 2018, falling within the financial year 2018–19. Accordingly, the petitioner included the transactions in the April 2018 return and claimed ITC.
The supplier, however, reported the transaction in its March 2018 return and paid tax. On account of this timing mismatch, a notice in ASMT-10 was issued in 2022, followed by a show cause notice proposing proceedings under Section 73(1) of the Kerala State Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. According to the petitioner, the show cause notice was uploaded under the “additional notices” tab on the GST portal and therefore did not come to his attention. As a result, the proceedings were finalised ex parte, leading to an adverse assessment order and consequential demand.
