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2019 (10) TMI 1388

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..... eligible for the ITC. Expenses incurred towards promotional schemes goods given as brand reminders - HELD THAT:- In the instant case under promotional goods given as brand reminders, products like pens, notepad, key chains etc. are distributed to the distributors and doctors. The said products are embossed with Sanofi brand are given as incentive and there is no extra commercial consideration and hence, since there is no commercial value assigned to the transaction, it is to be construed to be Gift - it is seen that there is no contractual obligation involved in this situation, as it is completely up to the distributors and doctors whether he will prescribe the medicines of the company or not. Doctors are not under any legal obligation to do so. As the consideration is not directly linked with the gift provided to doctor, it is to be considered as gift. The goods given as brand reminders are given voluntarily by the Company and there is no consideration involved in the transaction. Hence it falls in the definition of Gift. Also, it is seen that there is no contractual obligation involved in this situation, as it is completely up to the doctors whether he will prescribe the .....

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..... Central Goods and Services Tax Act. 2017 and the Maharashtra Goods and Services Tax Act. 2017 [hereinafter referred to as the CGST Act and MGST Act ] by Sanofi India Limited (herein after referred to as the Appellant ) against the Advance Ruling No. GST-ARA-115/2018-19/B-43 dated 24.04.2019 = 2019 (6) TMI 1305 - AUTHORITY FOR ADVANCE RULING, MAHARASHTRA . BRIEF FACTS OF THE CASE A. Sanofi India Limited (hereinafter referred to as the Appellant ), in India is engaged in business of sale of pharmaceutical goods and services. The Appellant has its head Office in Mumbai and manufacturing unit at Goa and Ankleshwar. The Appellant also gets its products manufactured through third party manufacturers who manufacture goods on contract manufacturing basis. Further, the Appellant provides taxable services and is registered under GST. B. The Appellant in regular course of business, incurs various marketing and distribution expenses. The said expenses are incurred with a view to promote their brand/products and enhance its sales. Under various schemes, the Appellant distributes different products -among its trade channels as promotional items or brand remi .....

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..... thus: Question 1: Whether input tax credit is available of the GST paid on expenses incurred towards promotional schemes of Shubh Labh Loyalty Program ? Answer : Answered in Negative. Question 2: Whether input tax credit is available of the GST paid on expenses incurred towards promotional schemes goods given as brand reminders? Answer : Answered in Negative. H. Being aggrieved by the said impugned order, the Appellant is filing this instant appeal on various grounds, which are taken without prejudice to each other. Grounds of the Appeal 1. At the outset, the Appellant submits that the ruling of the Authority is inconsistent with the spirit of the GST Law and without authority of law, and/or otherwise untenable and unsustainable in law and is liable to be set aside, on the following amongst other grounds. which are taken without prejudice to one another. 2. ITC SHOULD BE ALLOWED OF THE GST PAID ON PROCUREMENT OF PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS WHICH ARE GIVEN TO WHOLESALERS AS BRAND REMINDERS. 2.1 It is submitted that the Authority has erred in holding that since Section 17 (5) of the CGST Act deals with Blocked credits and begins .....

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..... failed in not considering the submissions of the Applicant The impugned order should be quashed and set aside on this count alone. 3. A CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION IS CREATED BETWEEN THE APPELLANT AND THE DISTRIBUTOR/WHOLESALER WHICH WOULD ENABLE EITHER PARTY TO TAKE RECOURSE TO A CIVIL SUIT OR ACTION FOR SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE OF CONTRACT ON FAILURE TO ADHERE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS 3.1 It is submitted that the Authority erred in holding that Appellant have not submitted any contract/agreement in support of the contention that there is a contractual obligation between the distributor/wholesaler and the Appellant. 3.2 It is submitted that the Authority has erred in stating the aforesaid in as much as the said statement is factually incorrect. The Impugned order proceeds on a flawed finding that the Appellant have not submitted any contract/agreement in support of the contention that there is a contractual obligation between the distributor/wholesaler and the Appellant. 3.3 The Appellant in their Additional submissions had produced, before the Authority, a PPT, which would establish that, in light of the terms and conditions which the distributor/wholesaler accep .....

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..... the distributor/wholesaler is not a barter as envisaged under Section 7 of the CGST Act. The transaction of buying medicines by the distributor/wholesaler is a pure sale transaction, in which the medicines are supplied against payment of money. A barter would involve trading of goods against goods or goods against services or various other permutations and combinations. However, the present transaction by any stretch of imagination cannot be called a barter and is a pure sale arrangement. As pleaded earlier, the act of giving points which can be redeemed later against articles is nothing but discounts in the line of buy more, save more on which input tax credit is available. 3.5.4 It would defeat the very purpose of Section 16(1) of the CGST Act if it is held that where the goods are procured with levy of input tax and are supplied without tax being paid on such output supplies, the scheme of the CGST Act, provides for no input tax, except export. In fact, Section 16(1) specifically provides that ITC would be available on inputs if they are used or intended to be used in furtherance of business. Any interpretation to the contrary would render Section 16(1) of the CGST Act ot .....

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..... ty draws the above inference from the provision of Section 16 (4) of the CGST Act. The primary scheme of GST is the free flow of credit. The intention of the legislature was never for non-granting/ denial of set off. 5.4 It is submitted that the heading of the Section 16 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 reads as Eligibility and conditions for taking input tax credit and the provision of clause (1) of section 16 ibid. reads thus: 1) Every registered person shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed and in the manner specified in section 49, be entitled to take credit of input tax charged on any supply of goods or services or both to him which are used or intended to be used in the course or furtherance of his business and the said amount shall be credited to the electronic credit ledger of such person. Clause 2 of the same section imposes the conditions. The said clause starts with a non- obstante clause and amongst the other conditions it also lays that no registered person shall be entitled to the credit of any input tax in respect of any supply of goods or services or both to him unless the tax charged in respect of such .....

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..... PARTIES SHOULD BE LOOKED INTO: 7.1 It is submitted that the Authority erred in relying on the nomenclature of the catalogue where gift is mentioned to hold that the Applicants intend to take contrary view. 7.2 It is submitted that mere mention in the catalogue as a gift will not have any bearing as there is a plethora of jurisprudence which holds that the nomenclature should not decide the contract but the spirit and the intention of the parties should be looked into. 7.3 It is submitted that Hon ble Apex Court in the matter of Super Poly Fabriks Ltd. versus Commissioner of C. Ex., Punjab 2008 (10) S.T.R. 545 (S.C.) = 2008 (4) TMI 31 - SUPREME COURT held that the purport and object with which the parties thereto entered into a contract ought to be ascertained only from the terms and conditions thereof. Reproduced here in below is the relevant paragraph of the said judgment for ready reference: There cannot be any doubt whatsoever that a document has to be read as a whole. The purport and object with which the parties thereto entered into a contract ought to be ascertained only from the terms and conditions thereof. Neither the nomenclature of the document .....

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..... a Bhatia v. State of UP [1981 (3) TMI 250- Supreme Court] , wherein gift has been held to be a voluntary transfer of property by one to another, without any consideration or compensation therefor. A gift is a gratuity and an act of generosity and does not require a consideration; if there is a consideration for the transaction, it is not a gift. In the same case, it was also held that a gift is a transfer which does not contain any element of consideration in any shape and form - Love, affection, spiritual benefit and many other factors may enter in the intention of the donor to make a gift but these filial considerations cannot be called or held to be legal considerations as understood by law. 9.3 It is submitted that borrowing the jurisprudential guidance from the observation of the Hon ble Supreme Court in the matter of Shakuntala Ors . Vs. The State of Haryana reported in 1979 3 ( SCC ) 226 is of much avail. The relevant paragraph of the said judgment is reproduced herein below for ready reference: It is therefore one of the essential requirements of a gift that it should be made by the donor without consideration . The word consid .....

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..... on. The Appellant submits that the products distributed to its wholesalers are for promoting their brand and are in furtherance of business and thus, ITC of the GST paid on such products should be available. 9.8 The Oxford dictionary has defined the term promotion as an activity that supports or encourages a cause, venture or aim, the publicizing of a product, organization, or venture so as to increase sales or public awareness. Further, the term furtherance is defined as the advancement of a scheme or interest. In context of the term furtherance of business it means advancement of business of the company. 9.9 The meaning of supply made in course or furtherance of business given in the FAQ on GST released by CBEC says - No definition or test as to whether the activity is in the course of furtherance of business has been specified under the CGST Act. However, the following business test is normally applied to arrive at a conclusion whether a supply has been made in the course or furtherance of business: a. Is the activity, a serious undertaking earnestly pursued? b. Is the activity, pursued with reasonable or recognizable continuity? c. Is the activity, con .....

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..... aforesaid entry, a view can be taken that since the input tax credit has been availed on acquisition of such products, giving away the same for free to its customers is nothing but permanent transfer or disposal of the business assets. 10.4 In this regard, it is submitted that the products like pens, notepad, key chains, etc. given as brand reminders cannot be termed as business assets . The term business asset is defined in general term as a piece of property or equipment purchased exclusively or primarily for business use. There are many different categories of assets including current and non-current, short-term and long-term, operating and capitalized, and tangible and intangible. Business assets are itemized and valued on the balance sheet, which can be found in the company s annual report. The products such as pens, key chains, etc. are purchased and embossed with company logo so as to distribute to its customers for promotion purpose which can be said as incurring business expenses. The same can in no way be said to be permanent disposal or transfer of business assets. 10.5 Reference herein can be made to the decision of the Hon ble first tier tax tribunal in United .....

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..... hicles into Local Areas Act, 1987, and (c) the tax paid in respect of any entry made after the appointed day under the Maharashtra Tax on the Entry of Goods into Local Areas Act, 2003. (d) the purchase tax paid by the claimant dealer under this Act. (2) The set-off under this rule shall not be granted in regard to any quantum of tax if set-off under rule 51 has been claimed in respect of the same quantum of tax or if set-off has been claimed in respect of the said quantum under any earlier law. (b) Rule 2 (a) capital goods means: (A) the following goods, namely: - (i) all goods falling under Chapter 82, Chapter 84, Chapter 85, Chapter 90, heading No. 68.05 grinding wheels and the like, and parts thereof falling under heading 6804 of the First Schedule to the Excise Tariff Act; (ii) pollution control equipment; (iii) components, spares and accessories of the goods specified at (i) and (ii); (iv) moulds and dies, jigs and fixtures; (v) refractories and refractory materials; (vi) tubes and pipes and fittings thereof; and (vii) storage tank, used- 1) in the factory of the manufacturer of the final prod .....

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..... ating to business, such as accounting, auditing, financing, recruitment and quality control, coaching and training, computer networking, credit rating, share registry, and security, inward transportation of inputs or capital goods and outward transportation up to the place of removal; 11.2 It is submitted that based on above, the applicant contends even in the erstwhile regime, there was no such restriction on availment of VAT credit on purchases made for promotion of business. Further, even under Service Tax Law, the Cenvat credit was available on purchase of inputs, input services or capital goods which were used for furtherance of business. Thus, the input tax credit of the GST paid on purchase of such promotional items should also be available under the GST regime since the same are for furtherance of business. 12. TRANSACTION BETWEEN THE APPLICANTS AND THE DISTRIBUTOR/WHOLESALER IS NOT A BARTER AS ENVISAGED UNDER SECTION 7 OF THE CGST ACT 12.1 It is submitted that the Authority has failed to appreciate that the transaction between the Applicants and the distributor/wholesaler is not a barter as envisaged under Section 7 of the CGST Act. The transaction of .....

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..... 13.4 In Philips India Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs and Excise - 1997 (91) E.L.T. 540] = 1997 (2) TMI 120 - SUPREME COURT the Hon ble Supreme Court held that where the cost of advertisements was borne half and half by the manufacturer and dealer, no deduction is permissible because the advertisement may benefit in equal degree, the manufacturer and dealer. The Hon ble Court further held in that legitimate business consideration must be kept in mind in adjudicating such matters under Central Excise. 13.5 Thus, the trade promotion activities under scrutiny in the appeal are clearly brand promotion and increasing the volume of sales, and squarely covered by activities relating to business i.e. promotion of the same. 13.6 The Hon ble Supreme Court in the case of Philips India Ltd. v. Commissioner of Customs and Excise - 1997 (91) E.L.T. 540] = 1997 (2) TMI 120 - SUPREME COURT has held that the Tax Department should keep commercial realities in mind in a situation where the discount offered was sought to be truncated on the ground that the dealers were asked to do advertisement and after sales services. The Hon ble Supreme Court held that such activities benefit bo .....

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..... ctor of C. Ex., Nellore and Others reported at [1986 (23) ELT 8 (S.C.)] = 1985 (2) TMI 42 - SUPREME COURT , relevant portion of which reads as follows: - That takes us to the second question, namely, whether the Division Bench was right in taking the view that the commission of ₹ 110/-, ₹ 145/-and ₹ 165/- per moped in respect of different varieties of mopeds sold to the dealers could not be said to be trade discount. Mr. Nariman , Learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the appellants, contended that this Commission allowed to the dealers was clearly trade discount and was, therefore, liable to be deducted in determining the excisable value of the mopeds by reasons of sub-section (b) (ii) of Section 4 of the Act. Now it is true that this amount allowed to the dealers has been referred to in the agreement as commission but the level given by the parties cannot be determinative because it is, for the court to decide whether the amount is trade discount or not, whatever be the name given to it. If we look at the terms of the agreement, it is clear that the agreement was between the appellants and the dealers on principal to principal basis. The .....

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..... ere is no dispute before us that the goods in question are articles made of plastics. This being so, the assessee is entitled to the exemption conferred by the notification unless the goods answer the description of one or other of the specific items set out in the table. The onus of showing this is clearly on the Revenue. (emphasis added) 13.9 Appellants have already submitted that the cost of the brand recollect items like pens, writing pads, paperweights et cetera et cetera which all promote the brand name/proprietary products of the appellants, and have the same embossed on these products, are all included in the price of the medicines being sold to the dealers. Similarly, all the items and the expenditure incurred for the rewards scheme are all built into the price of the medicines sold to the dealers. As held by the Hon ble High Court of Tripura in the case of Bharti Telemedia Ltd. V. The State of Tripura reported at 2015 -VIL- 227- TRI = 2015 (11) TMI 46 - TRIPURA HIGH COURT there is nothing free in commercial transactions, as follows: - True is that the petitioner companies have not sold the STBs to the customers. There can howev .....

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..... ere is no separate business auxiliary service rendered when due to enhanced achievement of sales targets, incentive amounts are received, Such incentive amounts only amount to trade discount, and there is no further service element involved, there being only one transaction. Relevant portion of the decision reads as follows: - As regards the Service Tax liability under the category of Business Auxiliary Services for the amount received and for achieving the target under Target Incentive Scheme, we find that the appellant had been given targets for specific quantum of sale by the manufacturers of the cars. As per the agreement, on achievement of such target and in excess of it, appellant was to receive some amount as an incentive. It is the case of the Revenue that such amount is taxable under Business Auxiliary Services, we find no substance in the arguments raised by the learned AR as well as the reasoning given by the adjudicating authority. The said amounts are incentive received for achieving the target of sales cannot be treated as Business Auxiliary Services, as incentive are only as trade discount which are extended to the appellant for achieving the targets. We find tha .....

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..... e the logic is that the consideration already realized is a consideration for the supply including the discounted supply/incentive supplies. Thus, it is reiterated that in the appellant s case also there is no supply without consideration but the original consideration is the consideration for the brand promotion items as also for the items given under the shubh labh scheme 13.12 That the lower authority has recorded the arguments made by the learned Departmental representative before them, contending that the supplies have been made free of cost and are non-taxable under section 9 read with section 2 (78) and merits to be treated as an exempt supply under section 2 (47), and that the credit should be disallowed in terms of section 17 (2). However, the Lower authority in the impugned order has not gone by these contentions or by these provisions. It is well settled that an order passed has to be judged on the basis of the reasons given therein without any new reasons not forming a part of the lower authority s order. Reliance is placed in the case of Gem Sanitary Appliances P Ltd. V. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax reported at [2012] 19 taxmann.com 69 = 2012 (3) TMI 78 - D .....

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..... availed in the following situations: - The appellants do reverse the input tax credit wherever it is required by law. For example: Recently in the appellants office they had kept combiflam cream free samples at their reception which can be taken by employees or any visitor to their office. The Appellants have reversed the input tax credit in relation to the same as the free samples given are pure gift in this case and not in furtherance of business. Similarly, the Appellants gives its products to doctors as free samples for which it does reverse the input tax credit. 14 In light of these facts, the Appellants humbly submit that they should be entitled to ITC on GST paid -on expenses incurred towards promotional schemes of Shubh Labh Loyalty Programme and goods given as brand reminders. Respondent s Submissions 15. The Respondent in the present appeal matter maintained their earlier stands, which they had taken before the Advance Ruling Authority while contending to the applicant s interpretation of the subject issues i.e. the admissibility of ITC of the expenses incurred by the applicant for the procurement of the various promotional goods/services for d .....

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..... ct supply cannot be construed as permanent transfer or disposal of the business assets. 15.3 There js no substance in the applicant s contention that Watch given under their Subh Labh Loyalty Scheme does not merit as Gift because there is no dispute about the fact that even watches have been given free of cost. The applicant themselves have quoted the judgement of Hon ble Supreme Court in case of Sonia Bhatia Vs. State of UP [1981 (3) TMI 250 - Supreme Court] , wherein Hon ble Supreme Court has held that a, gift is a gratuity and an act of generosity and does not require a consideration, if there is a consideration for one transaction, it is not gift The applicant is not signing any formal contract under Shubh Labh Loyalty Program , hence there is no contractual obligation under which goods are supplied. 15.4 In the instant case, under Shubh Labh Loyalty Program , gifts like watch or reward points are given as incentive and there is no extra commercial consideration and hence since there is no commercial value assigned to the transaction it is to be construed to be Gift. 15.5 The applicant themselves have submitted that for anything to be considered as gift, .....

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..... nses incurred towards promotional goods given as brand reminders? Comments : No, it is observed that applicant and its group entities are a supplier of Pharmaceutical goods and services. Under promotional goods given as brand reminders, the applicant distributes the products like pens, notepad, key chains etc. to the distributors and doctors. The said products are embossed with Sanofi brand. In this way, there is not dispute about the fact that applicant do not charge any price or value for the said free supply in terms of free pens, notepad, key chains etc. as the case may be. Therefore, the said free supply is not taxable and chargeable to any GST in terms of Section 9 of the CGST Act, 2017. The said supply merits as exempt supply in terms of provisions of Section 2(47) read with Section 2(78) and therefore, any ITC is not available on the same in terms of inter-alia provisions of Section 17(2) of the CGST Act, 2017. Further provisions of Section specifically disallow availment and usage of any credit on goods disposed of by way of gift not withstanding anything whatsoever in sub section (I) of Section (16), Therefore, the question of availment of ITC, on the basis tha .....

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..... contractual obligation or involvement of consideration. In the instant case the applicant give free goods to distributors and doctors without any involvement of consideration nor is there any written contractual agreement between the company and the distributors and doctors. Hence, the same is to be considered as Gift. 15.17 The goods given as brand reminders are given voluntarily by the Company and there is no consideration involved in the transaction. Hence it falls in the definition of Gift. Also, it is seen that there is no contractual obligation involved in this situation, as it is completely up to the doctors whether he will prescribe the medicines of the company or not. Doctors are not under any legal obligation to do so. As the consideration is not directly linked with the gift provided to doctors, it is to be considered as gift. 15.18 In any case, the applicant is not eligible for ITC in terms of provisions of section 9(1) read with Section 17(2), Section 2(47) and section 2(78), because, there is no dispute that the applicant has made the subject supplies without any consideration on which they have paid any GST. Therefore, the value of subject free supply does not .....

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..... n respect of the expenses incurred by the Appellant, for the procurement of the promotional goods/articles or services for distribution to the wholesalers as a part of the 'Shubh Labh Trade Loyalty Program', and for the procurement of the goods embossed with the brand Sanofi, for distribution to the distributors, 'doctors as brand reminders, will not be allowed, on the basis that the said supply of the promotional goods/services as part of the 'Shubh Labh Trade Loyalty Program', and the supply of the goods to its distributors or doctors as brand reminders are without any legal consideration and contractual obligation, and therefore the same would reasonably be construed as gift, and accordingly the ITC in respect of the expenses incurred on the procurement of the said supply of goods or services will not be allowed to the appellant in accordance with the provision of section] of the CGST Act, 2017. 18. On perusal of the above said impugned Advance Ruling order as well as all the written submissions, and the facts of the case, placed before us, the moot issues, to be decided, are as under: 1. Whether input tax credit is available on the GST paid on expense .....

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..... tional goods and services are given as gifts' and therefore no ITC will be available. In the grounds of appeal. the appellant has made the following submission:- 1) The ITC should be allowed on the procurement of promotional products and the credit is available as the goods are used for the furtherance of business 2) A contractual obligation is created between the appellant and the distributor /wholesaler 3) The products given away as promotional items is not a gift as the watch is given under the contractual obligation of the scheme 4) To constitute a gift the property should be transferred voluntarily and not as a result of a contractual obligation 5) Transaction between the appellants and the distributor/wholesaler is not a barter as envisaged under Section 7 of the CGST Act. 21. In this submission also, it is noted that the contention of the appellant suffers from an inherent contradiction in that, on one hand they contend that the giving away of the goods is not a barter as there is no separate service rendered by the recipient in such transactions and on the Other hand they say that the goods are not given as gifts as the goods are give .....

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..... llant no consideration in monetary terms is received. In any business, all inward supplies are input goods or input services only and supply of which would definitely be output supply so the only question that needs to decided is whether it is supply in terms of section 7 of the GST Act. As submitted by the learned advocate of the applicant these articles or services are supplied on account of achieving targets and increasing the turnover of the applicant. Therefore, can it be said that consideration in the form of increased turnover is received by the appellant? However. the appellant has submitted that such a reasoning is totally wrong and incorrect and relied on the CESTAT judgment in the case of Sharyu Motors V. Commissioner of Service Tax, Mumbai reported at 2016 (43) STR 158 (Tri- Mumbai =2015 (11) TMI 229 - CESTAT MUMBAI ) wherein it was held that there is no separate business auxiliary service rendered when due to enhanced achievement of sales targets, incentive amounts are received. Such incentive amounts only amount to trade discount, and there is no further service element involved. there being only one transaction. The relevant portion of the decision reads as foll .....

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..... rs, and there is no contractual obligation against supply of such brand promotional goods, then the only conclusion that can be drawn is that these are given as gifts by the appellant to the distributors/wholesalers. These goods are distributed free as goodwill gesture. No consideration in whatever form is received by the applicant and hence it is nothing but in the nature of gift. Thus, if the contention of the appellant is accepted that there is no consideration against the free supply of goods and services, it will amount to gift as relied by the appellant on the Supreme Court Judgment in the case of Sonia Bhatia v. State of U.P. (Civil Appeal no 775 of 1981 dt 17.3.81 = 1981 (3) TMI 250 - SUPREME COURT ) wherein 'gift' has been held to be a voluntary transfer of property by one to another, without any consideration or compensation therefor. A 'gift' is a gratuity and an act of generosity and does not require a consideration; if there is a consideration for the transaction, it is not a gift. In the same case, it was also held that a gift is a transfer which does not contain any element of consideration in any shape and form - Love, affection, spiritual .....

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