Maharashtra AAR Rejects GST Registration Query Concerning Other States

In re Sri Enterprises (GST AAR Maharashtra)

Summary: Sri Enterprises, registered in Maharashtra, sought an advance ruling regarding proposed import and export transactions involving ports in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. For imports, it proposed to clear goods after payment of customs duty and IGST, keep them within port areas and sell them to customers by raising IGST invoices under its Maharashtra GSTIN.

It also sought clarification regarding the e-way bill, including whether Mumbai GSTIN could be shown while goods were dispatched from Haldia/Kolkata Port or Vishakhapatnam Port. For export sales, it proposed to procure goods from local manufacturers in West Bengal under the merchant-exporter arrangement and export them directly through Haldia/Kolkata Port/CFS without obtaining registration in West Bengal. The applicant contended that the question fell within section 97(2)(f), which covers whether an applicant is required to be registered, and submitted that there was no express limitation restricting the Maharashtra AAR from considering whether registration was required in another State.

The Authority, on a combined reading of sections 96 and 97 of the CGST Act, held that an AAR can decide only questions relating to the State for which it is constituted. A ruling on registration liability in West Bengal or Andhra Pradesh would encroach upon the jurisdiction of GST authorities in those States. It further held that, since such a ruling would not bind officers of those States under section 103, its enforcement would not be possible. The Authority found that all three questions effectively concerned registration in another State.