10% of disputed tax amount to be deposited due to non-appearance: Madras HC

Hotel Southern Comfort Vs State Tax Officer (ST) (Madras High Court)

Madras High Court directed petitioner to deposit 10% of the disputed tax amount since the petitioner neither replied the show cause notice nor attended the personal hearing.

Facts- The petitioner is a partnership concern engaged in the business of hotels, boarding and lodging. On examination of the information furnished under various heads and also the information furnished in GSTR1, GSTR2A, GSTR3B, EWB and other records, it was found that the petitioner have not declared the correct tax liability while filing the annual return of GSTR9.

Accordingly, notice was issued in DRC-01 to the petitioner. However, the petitioner had neither filed its reply nor appeared for personal hearing. Hence, the impugned order came to be passed confirming the proposal.

Notably, the impugned order is challenged on the premise that neither the show cause notices nor the impugned order of assessment has been served by tendering to the petitioner or by registered post, instead it was uploaded in the common portal under the head “Additional Notices and Orders” tab, thereby, the petitioner was unaware of the initiated proceedings and thus unable to participate in the adjudication proceedings.

Conclusion- Held that the impugned order dated 29.08.2024 is set aside and the petitioner shall deposit 10% of the disputed tax within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. On complying with the above condition, the impugned order of assessment shall be treated as show cause notice and the petitioner shall submit its objections within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order along with supporting documents/material.