Practising advocates should not have to face harassment on account of payment of GST

Last updated: 09 August 2021

Court :
Orissa High Court

Brief :
It is admitted that no notice in the first instance ought to have been issued to the Petitioner, who is a practising advocate. The Commissioner GST is directed to issue clear instructions to all the officers in the GST Commissionerates in Odisha that no notice demanding payment of service tax/GST will be issued to lawyers rendering legal services and falling in the negative list, as far as the GST regime is concerned.

Citation :
Devi Prasad Tripathy v. Principal Commissioner CGST & Central Excise, Bhubaneswar [2021] 128 taxmann.com 413 (Orissa)

Practising advocates should not have to face harassment on account of the Department issuing notices calling upon them to pay service tax/GST when they are exempted from doing so, and in the process also having to prove they are practising advocates.

Devi Prasad Tripathy v. Principal Commissioner CGST & Central Excise, Bhubaneswar [2021] 128 taxmann.com 413 (Orissa)

A reference is made to a Notification dated 20th June 2012, in terms of which service tax liability of an individual advocate is Nil for legal services rendered to any of business entities located in the taxable territory. However, even for this, the Department appears to insist that the burden to prove it lies on the Petitioner. It appears that despite knowing fully well that advocates are not liable to pay service tax or GST, notices continue to be issued to them by the GST Commissionerate

It is admitted that no notice in the first instance ought to have been issued to the Petitioner, who is a practising advocate. The Commissioner GST is directed to issue clear instructions to all the officers in the GST Commissionerates in Odisha that no notice demanding payment of service tax/GST will be issued to lawyers rendering legal services and falling in the negative list, as far as the GST regime is concerned.