Bangalore Gold Club Vs Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Karnataka High Court)
In this writ petition, the petitioner, a club, challenged the validity of a show cause notice dated 07.05.2024 and its summary dated 08.05.2024 issued under Section 73 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for multiple tax periods spanning financial years 2019-20 to 2023-24. The core grievance raised was that the tax authorities had impermissibly clubbed several assessment years into a single consolidated show cause notice, contrary to the statutory scheme of Section 73.
The petitioner contended that Section 73 prescribes a distinct limitation period and procedure for each financial year, requiring that tax demands be initiated and concluded separately for every assessment year. According to the petitioner, the issuance of a composite notice covering multiple years violated the statutory limitation framework and deprived the assessee of year-wise adjudication as mandated by law.
The Karnataka High Court examined the scope and scheme of Section 73 of the CGST Act, particularly sub-section (10), which prescribes a time limit linked to the due date for filing the annual return for the relevant financial year. The Court observed that the provision clearly contemplates year-specific action and does not permit consolidation of multiple assessment years into a single show cause notice.
