Tvl. Vibis Natural Bee Farms Vs Deputy State Tax Officer-1 (Madras High Court)
Summary: The Madras High Court addressed the case of Tvl. Vibis Natural Bee Farms v. Deputy State Tax Officer-1, where the petitioner, engaged in selling live honey bees, contested the tax demand on packing material supplied for these bees. The court observed that the live honey bees are exempt from GST as per Schedule 1 of the CGST Act, and deemed the packing materials as part of a composite supply, which also includes an exempt product. As the petitioner was unaware of preceding notices leading to the assessment orders, the court set aside these orders and remanded the matter for fresh assessment. The petitioner must deposit ₹1,00,000 within 30 days and can respond to the show-cause notices prior to the new order issuance. The ruling clarifies that when goods are sold with packing materials as a bundled supply, the tax is based on the principal item, which, in this case, is the live honey bees, thus exempting the packing material from GST.
The Hon’ble Madras High Court in the case of Tvl. Vibis Natural Bee Farms v. Deputy State Tax Officer-1 [Writ Petition (MD) No.s 17237 to 17240 of 2024 dated July 26, 2024] disposed of the writ petition where the Assessee was engaged in sale of live honey bees and sale of packing material for selling live honey bees was to be treated as part of composite supply with exempted product. Thus, the order passed against the Assessee treating value of packing material as a value of supply demanding tax was to be set aside and matter was to be remanded to pass fresh orders.
