The Kerala High Court dismissed writ petition as there was relinquishment of right to prove claim for Input Tax Credit (ITC) by the assessee, Ansil Ibrahim.
The present writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India has been filed by the petitioner, who is running a proprietorship firm by the name and style ‘M/s Light House’. The Assessing Authority, in assessment proceedings under the provisions of the GST Act, denied the claim of the petitioner for an input tax credit of Rs.98,479/- under the CGST and the same amount under the SGST.
The Assessing Authority has levied interest of Rs.92,031/- under the CGST and the same amount under the SGST, and Rs.10,000/- each penalty has been imposed under the CGST and SGST. The total tax, interest and penalty has been assessed at Rs.4,01,020/-.
The petitioner was issued a show cause notice under Section 73(1) of the CGST/SGST Act 2017. The petitioner did not reply to the said show cause notice, nor did the petitioner appear for a personal hearing, which was fixed on 16.02.2022. The Assessing Authority verified the input tax credit as per GSTR 2A and return as per GSTR 3B for the tax period 2017-18.
As the petitioner did not appear in pursuance of the show cause notice nor did he provide any document or evidence to discharge his burden under Section 155 of the GST Act, the Assessing Authority has no other material before them except for Form GSTR 2A and GSTR 3B. The Assessing Authority, therefore, denied the claim of input tax credit of the petitioner.
Section 16 of the CGST/SGST Act 2017 prescribes the conditions for being eligible to claim input tax credit. Subsection (2) of Section 16 begins with a non-obstante clause There is another provision, i.e., Section 155 of the GST Act, which is in respect of the burden on the dealer for claiming input tax credit.
A Single Bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh observed that “If there is a difference between GSTR 2A and GSTR 3B, then it is for the assessee/dealer to prove his claim of input tax credit by leading cogent and credible evidence for his claim regarding input tax credit.”
“In the present case, the petitioner, despite show cause notice, chose not to provide any evidence in respect of his claim for the input tax credit, nor did he appear for a hearing on the date fixed. When the petitioner himself has given up his right to prove his claim for the input tax credit, this Court cannot help such an assessee by entertaining this writ petition.”
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