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The petitioner was aggrieved by the Order-in-Original passed by the Additional Commissioner, and it filed a writ petition stating that the said order was passed without giving any reasonable opportunity of hearing to the petitioner.
The department contended that the notice was issued, following which a reply was submitted after a lapse of almost 10 months. It was also contended that multiple opportunities for personal hearings were granted, but adjournment was sought on account of the non-availability of relevant details and on account of COVID.
The Honorable High Court noted that on each and every occasion, the petitioner replied to the notices and requested an adjournment on account of the non-availability of necessary details from his accountant. Thereafter, an order-in-original was passed against which no appeal was preferred, and after the expiry of the period to file the appeal, the writ petition was filed seeking relief.
The Court observed that there was not any violation of principles of natural justice since adjournments were sought all along, but the necessary documents were never produced before the authority either in person or via virtual mode. Thus, it was held that the matter was not required to be remanded for reconsideration as the conduct of the assessee did not appear to be bona fide and there was no violation of the principle of natural justice.
I. Understanding the business of Life Insurance
The contract of insurance is one where the risk of one party is transferred to the other. The insurer is the one who makes good the loss suffered by the insured on the happening of an uncertain event. Thus, the most commonly adopted form of risk transfer is insurance.
Life insurance, particularly, is on the person. It includes untimely death, outliving income, incapacity or disease/injury.
The Insurance Act, of 1938, defines the life insurance business as -
"the business of effecting contracts of insurance upon human life, including any contract whereby the payment of money is assured on death (except death by accident only) or the happening of any contingency dependent on human life, and any contract which is subject to payment of premiums for a term dependent on human life and shall be deemed to include—
(a) the granting of disability and double or triple indemnity accident benefits, if so provided in the contract of insurance,
(b) the granting of annuities upon human life; and
(c) the granting of superannuation allowances and 1 [benefit payable out of any fund] applicable solely to the relief and maintenance of persons engaged or who have been engaged in any particular profession, trade or employment or of the dependents of such persons;]
[Explanation. — For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that "life insurance business" shall include any unit linked insurance policy or scrips or any such instrument or unit, by whatever name called, which provides a component of investment and a component of insurance issued by an insurer]"
Thus, life insurance is a contract between an insurance policyholder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay the beneficiary/insured a sum of money upon the death of the insured person or happening of the event covered under the contract.
II. Types of Life Insurance Products
Life Insurance Companies offer many types of insurance products, which are broadly categorised as follows:
III. Valuation of Life Insurance under GST
It is evident from the above category of products, that life insurance plans are a mix of risk cover and investment products other than the pure term insurance products that are completely towards the risk portion.
Owing to this peculiar nature of life insurance contracts, the valuation of life insurance supplies has been given differential treatment while arriving at the value on which GST is to be charged.
In the case of a supply of life insurance services, the taxable value of supply is determined in accordance with the provisions contained under section 15(5) of the CGST Act, 2017, read with Rule 32(4) of CGST Rules, 2017. A relevant extract of section 15(5) and Rule 32(4) is reproduced herein below:
15. Value of Taxable Supply.—
" ……..
(5) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or sub-section (4), the value of such supplies as may be notified by the Government on the recommendations of the Council shall be determined in such manner as may be prescribed
………"
32. Determination of value in respect of certain supplies.-
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in the provisions of this Chapter, the value in respect of supplies specified below shall, at the option of the supplier, be determined in the manner provided hereinafter. "
……………………..
(4) The value of the supply of services in relation to the life insurance business shall be,-
(a) the gross premium charged from a policyholder reduced by the amount allocated for investment, or savings on behalf of the policyholder, if such an amount is intimated to the policyholder at the time of supply of service;
(b) in case of single premium annuity policies other than (a), ten per cent of a single premium charged from the policyholder; or
(c) in all other cases, twenty-five per cent of the premium charged from the policyholder in the first year and twelve and a half per cent of the premium charged from the policyholder in subsequent years:
Provided that nothing contained in this sub-rule shall apply where the entire premium paid by the policyholder is only towards the risk cover in life insurance'.
Thus, in term of Section 15(5), read with Rule 32(4), has prescribed a method to derive the value of supply in relation to the life insurance business. In terms of said rule 32(4), it is evident that, except for pure risk cover policies, the value of the supply of life insurance services is either restricted to the risk portion/charges collected of the premium or is derived as a certain percentage of the total premium collected.
The GST rate applicable to the life insurance business is 18% as per Notification No.12/2017-Central Tax (Rate), dated 28th June 2017 (amended by Notification No. 1/2023- Central Tax (Rate), dated 28th February 2023).
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The taxable value as per valuation rules and the effective GST rate applicable for the various category of products is as follows:
Conclusion
Over the last 20 years of the privatisation of the life insurance sector, indirect taxation on life insurance contracts has evolved with the advent of innovative products by companies. At the time of the introduction of indirect taxation viz service tax on life insurance service in the year 2004, the levy was only on risk premium/cover; however, with the changing product portfolio, the levy has also progressed to ensure that all the services under the sector are taxed.
That’s it from us for today! Stay Tuned for more updates from?Taxmann.com.
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