Services of Loading, Unloading, Packing, Storage or Warehousing of Imported Wheat Would Be Exempt | HC

Case Details: Naga Ltd. v. Puducherry Authority for Advance Ruling - [2024] 158 taxmann.com 306 (Madras)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • Mohammed Shaffiq, J.
  • Raghavan Ramabadran for the Petitioner.
  • B. Ramaswamy & N. Jayakumar, Sr. Standing Counsel for the Respondent.

Facts of the Case

The petitioner was engaged in business of milling wheat into wheat products such as maida, atta, sooji, bran etc. It imported wheat through various seaports and engaged service providers for clearing the imported wheat from seaports. It filed an application for advance ruling to determine whether services of loading, unloading, packing, storage or warehousing of imported wheat would be exempt under GST.

The Authority for Advance Ruling rejected application on ground of lack of jurisdiction as only a supplier on whom incidence of tax lies can seek an Advance Ruling. Thereafter, service provider filed an application for advance ruling and Authority ruled that services would not be exempt exemption applies only to services rendered till products are taken to primary market for disposal. The petitioner filed writ petition against the advance ruling and contended that the services provided by the service provider would be exempt from GST.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court noted that the services of loading, unloading, packing, storage or warehousing of agricultural produce are exempt from GST. The Court also noted that the test for exemption would be whether services are rendered in relation to ‘agricultural produce’ or not. In the instant case, the services were provided for imported wheat which would be agricultural produce. Therefore, the Court held that the services provided by the service provider would be exempt from GST.