The Odisha-based advance ruling authority (AAR) has ruled that the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited must obtain a separate registration in the state in order to carry out construction work assigned by the East Coast Railway. The order is in conflict with previous AAR orders.
Odisha’s imposition of Goods and Services Tax (GST) is dependent on the location of the service.
Konkan Railway, based in Maharashtra’s Thane district, received a letter of acceptance (LoA) earlier this year for a Rs 337.18 crore project to build bridges and other allied works for a new East Coast Railway line in Odisha’s Budha district.
The Odisha AAR ruled that Konkan Railway must register for the contract under the Odisha Goods and Services Act, 2017 and the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017. According to AAR, the supplier’s location would be the project site.
Previously, the Karnataka-based AAR ruled in the GEW (India) Pvt Ltd case that the company does not need to register separately in the state and that invoices can be raised from its registered office in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
According to Saurabh Agarwal, tax partner at EY, given that the previous few advance rulings have held that the location of the supplier would be the registered place of business rather than the project site, the industry will look to the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs to issue a clarification on this aspect to avoid disputes.