Sh. Varun Goel Vs Director General of Anti-Profiteering (National Anti-Profiteering Authority)
Penalty for not issuing an invoice or for issuing an incorrect or false invoice in respect of any supply of goods or services or both is not covered under Section 171(1)
It is apparent from the perusal of Section 122 (1) (i) that the violation of the provisions of Section 171 (1) is not covered under it as it does not provide penalty for not passing on the benefits of tax reduction and ITC. It only provides for imposition of penalty for not issuing an invoice or for issuing an incorrect or false invoice in respect of any supply of goods or services or both. Perusal of proviso attached to this Section also shows that it provides for imposition of penalty of ten thousand rupees or equal to the tax evaded or the tax not deducted under section 51 or short deducted or deducted but not paid to the Government or tax not collected under section 52 or short collected or collected but not paid to the Government or input tax availed or passed on or distributed irregularly, or the refund claimed fraudulently, whichever is higher. Since, the profiteered amount is not a tax imposed under the CGST Act, 2017, the above penalty cannot be imposed for violation of the anti-profiteering provisions made under Section 171 of the above Act.
