Tax compliance: Tata Steel served Rs 1,007 crore GST notice, says claim lacks merit, no business impact expected

Tata Steel has received a show cause-cum-demand notice from tax authorities over 'alleged irregular availment of input tax credit' (ITC) totalling over Rs 1,007 crore for the financial years 2018-19 to 2022-23, the company informed stock exchanges on Sunday.According to the notice dated June 27 from the Office of the Commissioner (Audit), Central Tax, Ranchi, the steelmaker has been asked to appear before the Additional/Joint Commissioner of Central GST & Central Excise in Jamshedpur within 30 days. The notice states the ITC was availed in contravention of provisions under Section 74(1) of the CGST/SGST Acts, 2017 and Section 20 of the IGST Act, 2017, PTI reported.Tata Steel clarified that it has already paid Rs 514.19 crore in GST during the normal course of business. “The above GST amount is proposed to be appropriated in the notice and therefore the alleged GST exposure is Rs 493.35 crore only,” it stated in the regulatory filing.The company added that it believes the notice “has no merits” and that it will submit its response within the stipulated deadline.“There is no impact on financial, operational, or other activities of the company, arising from the said SCN,” Tata Steel said, quoted PTI.Input tax credit under GST allows businesses to offset tax paid on inputs against their output tax liabilities.