Fact Check: This hotel, not the Pani Puri seller, had received GST notice, the claim made on social media is misleading

What is the claim?

X user Jagdish Chaturvedi has posted a copy of the GST notice and claimed that the Pani Puri seller earns Rs 40 lakh a year and has received an income tax notice. This post has gone viral. Till now it has been viewed more than 10 lakh times.

Many other social media handles have also claimed that the Pani Puri seller has received a tax notice.

What’s in the notice?

It is written in the notice that 1. Based on the reports received from Razorpay and PhonePe that you have received UPI payment for outward supply of goods/services, and the payments received for the years 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 are given below:
Payment received in the year 2023-24 Rs 40,11,019

2. Further analysis reveals that you have not registered under the provisions of the TGST Act, 2017 along with the relevant CGST Act, 2017.

3. The statutory provisions relating to registration provisions under the TGST/CGST Act, 2017 are given below:

As per sub-section (1) of section 22 of the TGST/CGST Act, 2017, every supplier having an aggregate turnover of Rs 20 lakh in a financial year must be liable for registration. Further, as per sub-section (2) of section 23 of the TNGST/CGST Act, 2017, the Government has, by notification, exempted from obtaining registration any person having turnover up to Rs 40 lakh, who is engaged in exclusive supply of goods .

Further, supplying goods/services without obtaining GST registration, even after crossing the border, is an offense punishable under section 122(1)(xi) of the TNGST Act, 2017 Which is up to Rs 10,000 or 10%, whichever is higher.

What is the truth?

This tax notice is printed, but ‘Notice to Pani Puri Vendor’ is handwritten on it. Is this notice correct and has it really gone to the Pani Puri seller? To know the answers to these questions, we contacted Tamil Nadu GST Department. The department official said that the notice is correct, but it has been sent to the hotel and not to the Pani Puri seller. he/she said that on December 17, 2024, a tax notice was sent to Anu Hotel in Nagercoil in Kanyakumari district and the hotel had also received it. When we tried to find out with the help of Google Earth, Anu Hotel was found.

conclusion

Based on confirmation from Tamil Nadu GST Department, it is confirmed that the GST notice viral on social media is genuine, but the claim that it has been sent to Pani Puri vendors is false. According to TNGST officer, this notice has been sent to the hotel.