Assessee is entitled to interest from the date immediately after the expiry of sixty days from the date of receipt of the GST refund application

Assessee is entitled to interest from the date immediately after the expiry of sixty days from the date of receipt of the GST refund application

The Hon’ble Delhi High Court, in the case of Raghav Ventures vs. Commissioner of Delhi [Writ Petition (Civil) No. 12209 of 2023 dated March 01, 2024], held that the payment of 6% interest under the Section 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (“the CGST Act”) is statutory and does not depend if the claim made by the Assessee. It is automatically payable if the GST refund is not made within 60 days from the date of receipt of the application.

Facts of the case:

Raghav Ventures, referred to as “the Petitioner,” engaged in exporting mobile phones and accessories to M/s AZ Logistic, Dubai, UAE, and paid Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST). The normal procedure for claiming GST refunds involved submitting shipping bills, which Customs processed through ICEGATE.

In December 2022, exports amounted to Rs. 9,06,49,174/- with IGST payment of Rs. 1,63,16,851/-. In February 2023, exports totaled Rs. 2,80,38,271/- with IGST payment of Rs. 50,46,889/-. Similarly, in March 2023, exports amounted to Rs. 95,90,489/- with IGST payment of Rs. 17,26,288/-, and in May 2023, exports of mobiles and accessories worth Rs. 76,96,568/- were made, with IGST payment of Rs. 13,85,382/-.

According to Sub-Rule (2) of Rule 96 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (“the CGST Rules”), export invoice details from Form GSTR-1 are electronically transmitted to Customs. Once the system confirms export, GST refunds are processed through ICEGATE under Rule 96(3) of the CGST Rules.

The Petitioner submitted GST returns in Form-GSTR-3B and refund applications for the mentioned periods via Form-GST-RFD-01. Acknowledgments were received via Form-GST-RFD-02, confirming receipt of the GST refund applications.

While the writ petition was pending, the IGST refund for the period was credited to the Petitioner’s bank account on December 4, 2023, without any interest. On December 6, 2023, the Petitioner applied to the Special Commissioner, Department of Trade & Taxes (“the Respondent”), seeking 6% interest from the refund application date until December 3, 2023.

Therefore, aggrieved by these circumstances, the present writ petition was filed, requesting the Respondent to grant the total IGST refund of Rs. 2,44,75,410/- for the tax periods of December 2022, February 2023, March 2023, and May 2023, along with interest as per Section 56 of the CGST Act.

Issue:

Does the Assessee have a statutory entitlement to interest on delayed GST refunds?

Held:

The Delhi High Court, in Writ Petition (Civil) No. 12209 of 2023, ruled as follows:

Liked the post? Share this:
editor
editor@nyca.in
No Comments

Post A Comment

Disclaimer

We have taken all steps to ensure that the information on the website has been obtained from reliable sources and is accurate. However, this website is not intended to give legal, tax, accounting or other professional guidance. We recommend appropriate advice be taken prior to initiating action on specific issues.