Siemens Limited Vs Sales Tax Officer/GST Officer & Ors. (Delhi High Court)
Delhi High Court has quashed one of two conflicting assessment orders issued against Siemens Limited for the tax period of April 2018 to March 2019, stating that two contradictory orders for the same period cannot stand. The court’s decision, issued on an unspecified date, addresses the procedural irregularity of a tax authority issuing two separate final orders that contained conflicting conclusions on identical issues. The ruling effectively upholds one order while setting aside the other, allowing the taxpayer to pursue a statutory appeal on the remaining contested issue.
The writ petition was filed by Siemens Limited, challenging two orders dated April 27, 2024, issued by the Sales Tax Officer/GST Officer. Both orders pertained to the same tax period and were passed by the same officer, yet they reached different conclusions on several key issues. The court noted that the orders were contradictory, which created a legal impossibility for the taxpayer to comply with or appeal.
The petitioner presented a table highlighting the stark differences between the two orders. The first order confirmed tax demands on three issues: a Rs. 45 lakh difference in output tax liability between Form GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-9, a Rs. 7.8 lakh difference in outward supplies declared in GSTR-1 versus E-way bills, and a Rs. 28,354 excess Input Tax Credit (ITC) claim. In a separate, second order for the very same period, the tax authority dropped all three of these demands, effectively reversing its own findings.
