United Breweries Ltd (UBL) announced on Friday, April 5, that it had received a tax demand of over ₹263.70 crore, including interest and penalty from the Maharashtra State Goods & Service Tax (GST) Department.
In a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges, the Kingfisher Beer manufacturer said, "The Deputy Commissioner of State Tax, Raigad Division, Maharashtra State GST Department passed an order levying an additional tax of ₹1,19,82,34,560, interest of ₹1,15,03,04,218 and penalty of ₹28,86,97,379 -- totalling to ₹2,63,72,36,156 for FY 2019-20.''
UBL said the tax demand order passed by the GST department was for fiscal year 2019-20 (FY20). “Demand is also raised on account of non-submission of declaration forms for concessional rate of tax,” added the liquor maker.
The demand order has been raised on account of levy of 60 per cent CST on debit notes raised by UBL on Telangana State Beverage Corporation (TSBCL), Karnataka State Beverage Corporation (KSBCL), Andhra Pradesh State Beverage Corporation (APBCL) for the reimbursement of state excise duties paid on behalf of State Beverage Corporations for the period April 2019 to March 2020," said UBL in its exchange filing.
UBL further said it "has a strong case to defend the issue before the relevant appellate authority and does not expect any financial impact on the company except for a minimal statutory pre-deposit that is required to be made at the time of admission of the appeal".
Interestingly, this is not the first instance where UBL has faced such an order from tax authorities. The liquor company recalled a similar situation for the financial year 2018-19 when a demand of ₹275 crore was raised against it. Ahead of the tax demand order, shares of UBL settled 1.50 per cent higher at ₹1,807.55 apiece on the BSE.
