Tvl.One Plus Technology Vs State Tax Officer (Madras High Court)
The Madras High Court has intervened in favor of a taxpayer, Tvl. One Plus Technology, by quashing a GST demand order amounting to over 50 lakh. The court found that the order, issued by the State Tax Officer, lacked proper reasoning and indicated a “clear non-application of mind” by the respondent.
The case involved a challenge by Tvl. One Plus Technology against an order dated December 4, 2024, which followed a series of notices in Form GST DRC-01A and DRC-01. The petitioner had submitted a reply on November 8, 2024, to the proposals outlined in the notices. However, the impugned order dismissively stated that the reply was “not convincing and are not acceptable and are not found to be in order, since they are not supported with valid documentary evidences.” It then proceeded to confirm the tax liability, penalty, and interest proposed, totaling 50,48,638.
The court observed that the order’s operative portion provided no specific reasons for rejecting the taxpayer’s reply, merely labeling it as “not convincing.” This lack of detailed justification led the court to conclude that the tax officer had not adequately considered the petitioner’s submissions. The total liability confirmed included SGST, CGST, and IGST components for tax, penalty under Section 73(5), general penalty under Section 125, and interest under Section 50(1) for the financial year 2023-24.
