[Order dated 08.07.2024 of the High Court of Delhi, in Shri Sai Metals v. Principal Commissioner of Goods and Service Tax, West Delhi, from W.P.(C) No. 9168 of 2024]
Cancellation not to absolve liability
According to section 29(3) of the CGST Act, cancellation of registration shall not affect the liability of the person to pay tax and other dues or to discharge any obligation under the GST law for any period prior to the date of cancellation, irrespective of whether such dues are determined before or after the date of cancellation.
Cancellation processing time limit prescribed in circular
According to paragraph 5 of circular no. 69/43/2018-GST dated 26.10.2018 (as amended till date), since the cancellation of registration has no effect on the liability of the taxpayer as stated above, the proper officer should accept all applications for cancellation of registration within 30 days from the date of filing the application, except in the following circumstances:
- The application in FORM GST REG-16 is incomplete (i.e. where all the relevant particulars, as detailed in para 4 above, have not been entered); or
- In case of transfer, merger or amalgamation of business, the new entity (in which the applicant proposes to amalgamate or merge) has not been registered with the tax authority before submission of the application for cancellation.
In all cases other than those listed at (a) and (b) above, the application for cancellation of registration should be immediately accepted by the proper officer and the order for cancellation should be issued in FORM GST REG-19.
