Flipkart India Private Limited Company Vs Assistant Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Karnataka High Court)
Karnataka High Court held that in terms of section 142(7)(b) and 142(8)(b) of the KGST Act all types of amounts refundable are to be refunded back in cash without there being any distinction between cash deposit or ITC/ECL deposit. Accordingly, 70% pre-deposit made through ITC/ECL is to be refunded in cash.
Facts- The petitioner is a dealer registered with the Respondent Commercial Tax Department and is engaged in the business of B2B trading across a wide gamut of products including Mobiles, Electronic items, Apparels, Footwear, etc. For the tax period 2011-12 to 2014-15, re-assessment orders were passed against the petitioner raising a total demand of Rs.23,01,70,324/- under the Karnataka Value Added Tax Act, 2003 treating mobile phone charger as unscheduled commodity and taxing them separately at a higher rate.
Against the said re-assessment orders, petitioner preferred appeals before Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes(Appeals) and on 09.10.2017 and 10.10.2017, petitioner made a pre-deposit of 30% of the total demand through cash totaling to Rs.6,90,51,099/- in terms of Section 62 of the KVAT Act. The said appeals were dismissed.
Thereafter, petitioner filed appeals before the Tribunal and made payment of the balance 70% pre-deposit of the demand amounting to Rs.16,11,19,226/- using Input Tax Credit (ITC) available in its Electronic Credit Ledger (ECL).
