HC: Wrong Form for Cancellation of GST Reg. Can’t Justify Denial of GSTIN Linkage

In the taxpayer-favoured ruling, the Rajasthan High court ruled that the GST department shall not refuse the advantage of linking the GSTIN on the death of the proprietor only on the technical basis that the application for the GST registration cancellation was incurred through the wrong form.

On the Date, 31st Jan 2018 the sole proprietor expired on which an intimation was forwarded to the respondent CGST department via a letter in hard copy.

CGST act furnishes a process for the cancellation and then transfers the dealer’s registration pursuant to the proprietor’s death of the company. But this type of process would be allowed if the details for the death of the proprietor would get uploaded on the common portal in Form GST REG-16. The data for the death of the sole proprietor was not forwarded to the CGST department in the electronic form and would be in the mentioned Form GST REG-16 hence the additional efforts made on the basis of the firm to furnish the GST return were restricted. While the new registration would have been taken by the applicant.

The applicant, the legal heir of the sole proprietor of the business could furnish the application for the registration of cancellation electronically on the common portal on the basis of the business transfer for any causes along with the proprietor’s death.

Hence GSTIN of the transferee to whom the business had been transferred could be associated with the GTIN of the transferor. The important required decisions are obligated to be provided to the respondents to open the common GST portal so that the applicant could upload the details of requisite in the FORM GST REG-16 and provides the two accounts linked to ease the clearance of the tax liability and to prevent the anomalies.

A division bench, Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Kuldeep Mathur, the GST authorities to re-open the portal for permitting the applicant to furnish that and ruled that, the same absolute hypertechnical basis could not get acknowledged valid so as to prohibit the applicant from the opportunity to link the GSTIN of his father’s firm with the new GSTIN number of the firm. The applicant furnishes the intimation of the death of the proprietor of the firm that renders his bonafides which he wants to get removed the anomalies along with clearing the tax liability.