Poomika Infra Developers Vs State Tax Officer (Madras High Court)
Madras High Court held that service of notice/ order under GST by making available in the common portal is valid mode of service in terms of section 169 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.
Facts- Petitioner is engaged in providing works contract service primarily to Central and State Government. Petitioner was registered under Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017. During the course of inspection, discrepancies were noticed relating to short payments of taxes for the period 2017-18 to 2022-23. An intimation in Form DRC-01A dated 01.04.2024 for the period 2018-19 was issued. The intimation contained allegations of discrepancies between Profit and Loss Account and GSTR 3B, GSTR 7 and GSTR 3B, Availment of ITC contrary to Section 16 of the Act. This was followed by a show cause notice in DRC-01 dated 22.04.2024.
The challenge is on the premise that intimation in DRC-01A, show cause notice in DRC-01 and order of adjudication in DRC-07, were uploaded in the GST Common Portal, petitioner was not aware of the same. Petitioner was thus unable to participate in the adjudication/ assessment proceedings. Petitioner challenged the order of assessment, on the premise that the service of notice / order is improper and invalid.
