Symphony Limited & Anr. Vs Union of India & Anr. (Gujarat High Court)
Gujarat High Court held that interest under section 50 of the GST Act cannot be levied from the date of deposit of the amount in electronic cash ledger till the time the return in Form GSTR3B is submitted. Accordingly, petition is allowed.
Facts- The present petition has been preferred by the petitioner. It was submitted that by the impugned letters the respondents have called upon the petitioner Company to make the payment for the period from 20.09.2017 till date of filing of Form DRC-03 i.e. 14.08.2018 whereas the credit in electronic cash ledger has taken place on the date of filing of Challan on 14.08.2018. It was therefore submitted that the respondents could not have asked for the interest payable under Section 50 of the GST Act after credit of the amount into the electronic cash ledger.
Conclusion- Held that as per the Scheme of the GST Act, it is only for the purpose of accounting that the debit in electronic cash ledger will be made at the time of filing of the return otherwise an amount which is credited to the account of the Government immediately upon the deposit in electronic cash ledger, the same would be appropriated in the Government treasury and the tax liability of the assessee would stand discharged. Moreover, as per the Scheme of the GST Act, the deposit in electronic cash ledger would be in nature of advance payment by the assessee which would be adjusted at the time of filing of the return in Form GSTR 3B while computing the tax liability. Therefore, no interest can be levied from the date of deposit of the amount by the assessee in the electronic cash ledger till the time the return in Form GSTR-3B is submitted.
