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2021 (12) TMI 1299 - AAAR - GSTApplicability of GST - transactions of sale of vouchers - the vouchers traded by the Appellant are goods or actionable claims - Whether the vouchers themselves, or the act of supplying them is taxable, and at what stage, for each of the three categories of transactions undertaken by the Appellant? - rate of tax at which this would be taxable i.e what category would this be taxed under - HELD THAT:- The vouchers in question are undoubtedly payment instruments recognised by RBI. The question is however, whether these vouchers can be considered as 'money'. The finding of the lower Authority is that these vouchers are not used by the Appellant to settle an obligation and hence cannot be considered as 'money' ; that it takes on the colour of money only when it is redeemed by the beneficiary at the time of purchase of goods and/or services - The voucher in the hands of the Appellant, does not settle an obligation but rather creates an obligation. The settlement of the obligation occurs at the time when the ultimate beneficiary uses the voucher to purchase goods and/or services. The definition of money also makes it clear that it is only when the payment instrument is used as consideration to settle an obligation, does it qualify as 'money'. This occurs only when the voucher is redeemed. Until then it is just an instrument recognised by the RBI but is not ‘money'. Therefore, the voucher in the hands of the Appellant cannot be termed as 'money'. In the instant case, the definition of goods in the CGST Act is much more explicit and states clearly what goods mean, what is excluded from the meaning of goods and what is included in the meaning. Further, the nature of the transaction in the case before us is different from the nature of the transaction by Sodexo in as much as the Appellant is clearly not the issuer of the vouchers nor is he authorized by RBI to issue vouchers. The Appellant is buying vouchers from entities authorized to issue them and is selling the same to his clients. In other words, the Appellant is purely trading in vouchers - the vouchers being traded by the Appellant are in the nature of goods. The supply of vouchers by the Appellant is a supply of goods in terms of Section 7 of the CGST Act - on the aspect of value of the vouchers for the purpose of GST, the rate of tax and the time of supply of the vouchers by the Appellant. Since the Appellant is not the issuer of the voucher, the provisions of time of supply under Section 12(4) will not apply and the time of supply will be governed by the provisions of Section 12(5) of the CGST Act.
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