BENGALURU: Vouchers are exempted from GST, the Karnataka high court ruled in a current judgment, asserting that these do not carry any worth and theyre not goods or services either.

The meaning of coupons under the CGST Act makes it clear that coupons are simple instruments accepted as consideration for supply of items or services.

They have no inherent value of their own, a department bench headed by Justice PS Dinesh Kumar said.

As coupons are considered instruments, they would fall under the meaning of money...

as specified by the law, which likewise omits cash from the definition of items and service and therefore no tax can be levied on it, the HC said.Allowing a petition filed by Premier Sales Promotion, a Bengaluru-based business, the HC said that in substance, the deal between the assessee and his clients is procurement of printed kinds and their delivery.

Printed forms resemble currency.

The value printed on the kind can be transacted just at the time of redemption of the coupon and not at the time of shipment of coupons to the assessees customer.

Therefore, the issuance of vouchers resembles pre-deposit and not supply of items or services, the court said.The bench said the vouchers associated with the petition are semi-closed pre-paid payment instruments (PPIs) in which the goods or services to be redeemed are not identified at the time of issuance.

The petitioner had challenged a 2021 order passed by the Karnataka Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling that vouchers are taxable as goods at the time of supply.