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Supreme Court Allows Use of Input Tax Credit for Mandatory Pre-Deposit under GST In a landmark ruling with significant implications for businesses across India, the Supreme Court on Monday, May 19, upheld the Gujarat High Court's decision, thereby allowing the use of Input Tax Credit (ITC) available in the Electronic Credit Ledger (ECL) to make the mandatory pre-deposit required for filing an appeal under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Background and Context: Under the GST law, when a taxpayer wishes to file an appeal against an adjudication order involving tax, interest, penalty, or any demand, a mandatory pre-deposit is required, generally amounting to 10% of the disputed tax amount. Until now, this pre-deposit was required to be made in cash through the Electronic Cash Ledger, even if the taxpayer had sufficient balance in their Electronic Credit Ledger in the form of accumulated ITC. This requirement often created cash flow issues for businesses, particularly when large amounts of ITC were already available but could not be utilized for this specific purpose. The Gujarat High Court’s Decision: The Gujarat High Court had ruled that Input Tax Credit qualifies as “amount” under Section 107(6) of the CGST Act, 2017, and therefore, the mandatory pre-deposit for filing an appeal can be paid using the balance available in the Electronic Credit Ledger. The High Court held that there is no legal bar under the GST law prohibiting the use of ITC for this purpose. Supreme Court’s Affirmation: Now, the Supreme Court has affirmed the Gujarat High Court's interpretation, holding that Input Tax Credit is indeed a legitimate form of payment and can be used to fulfill the statutory requirement of pre-deposit under Section 107(6) of the CGST Act. |
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