Advance authorisation licence for exporters: HC notice to govt, GST council

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to the finance ministry, the commerce ministry and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council for restricting the benefits of advance authorisation licence for exporters under the GST regime. 

An advance authorisation licence is issued to allow duty-free import of inputs, which are physically incorporated in export products. 

The Central Bureau of Indirect Taxes and Customs and the commerce ministry had inserted a clause of “pre-import” for exempting imports done on advance authorisation licences from integrated GST. 

The change in condition has led to Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) issuing notices to exporters. 

A similar petition is pending in Gujarat HC. Abhishek Rastogi, counsel, petitioners and partner at Khaitan & Co, said those outside Gujarat are still getting these notices and so the Punjab and Haryana HC was approached. “The pre-import condition has been a subject of debate even after the stay by the Gujarat HC against DRI notices,” he said.