Kerala GST Ruling on Unpaid Tax Liability: Amnesty Scheme Default

Farooque Construction Vs Kerala State Goods And Service Tax (Gst) (Kerala High Court)

Facts:

1. The petitioner is a partnership registered under the Central GST/Kerala GST Act and is a dealer under these laws.
2. They applied to the GST authority for settling their tax dues under an Amnesty Scheme announced on 22.06.2020.
3. The department considered their application and agreed to settle their total liability at Rs.6,08,561 for tax dues.
4. The petitioner was allowed to pay this amount in installments, with the first installment set at 20% of the total (Rs.1,21,713). They were given 30 days to pay this.
5. However, after paying the first installment, the petitioner didn’t pay any further amount to the department.
6. The court is addressing this issue in 2023, noting that despite the Amnesty Scheme settling their liability, the petitioner failed to pay the remaining amount.

Observation:

The court found that the petitioner didn’t fulfill their obligation after the settlement was reached under the Amnesty Scheme. Even though the order was issued in 2020, the petitioner didn’t clear the remaining dues.

Conclusion:

Based on these facts, the court decided not to intervene with the notice dated 25.10.2023 issued by the department. As a result, the court dismissed the writ petition filed by the petitioner.

In essence, the court upheld the department’s notice because the petitioner didn’t follow through on paying the agreed-upon amount even though they had the benefit of the Amnesty Scheme to settle their tax dues.

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