The Andhra Pradesh High Court has held that GST is payable at the time of issuance of invoice or receipt of payments of annuity, whichever is earlier.
The bench of Justice R Raghunandan Rao and Justice Harinath.N has observed that as per the CBIC circular the tax liability on the concessionaire under the HAM contract, including on the construction portion, would arise at the time of issuance of invoice, or receipt of payments, whichever is earlier, if the invoice is issued on or before the specified date or the date of completion of the event specified in the contract, as applicable. If invoices are not issued on or before the specified date or the date of completion of the event specified in the contract, tax liability would arise on the date of provision of the said service (i.e., the due date of payment as per the contract), or the date of receipt of the payment, whichever is earlier.
The petitioner/assessee is engaged in the construction of roads, national highways etc. and is a registered dealer under the Andhra Pradesh Goods and Services Tax & Central Goods and Services Tax Acts. As part of its activities, the petitioner had undertaken the construction and maintenance of National Highway.
The petitioner had completed the construction of the national highway section and was paid the amounts payable for such construction. It is admitted that the GST payable on such consideration has also been paid.
The dispute relating to payment of G.S.T. arose in relation to the annuity being received by the petitioner. It is the stand of the petitioner that G.S.T. would be payable on the annuity received by the petitioner only on the date on which the invoice is raised by the petitioner for such purpose or when payment is made, whichever is earlier.
However, the assessing authority took the view that the G.S.T. is payable on all the annuity installments at the very inception of the concession period and the payment of the G.S.T. cannot be deferred to the date of payment of annuity.
The court quashed the orders in Appeal with a direction to the department to collect tax in accordance with the circular issued by the C.B.I.C.
The court directed that any amounts recovered on account of the assessment orders or the appellate orders shall be refunded to the petitioner in accordance with law. There shall be no order as to costs.
Case Details
Case Title: M/s. APCO Arasavalli Expressway Private Limited Versus The Assistant Commissioner (ST)
Case No.: Writ Petition No: 17225, 30946 And 30956 Of 2023
Date: 11/09/2024
Counsel For Petitioner: Lakshmi Kumaran & Sridharan
Counsel For Respondent: GP
