The Rajasthan High Court directed to decide Goods and Services Tax (GST) refund application within 60 days in the matter of GST refund application pending for 9 months.
The limited grievance ventilated through the petition is that even though the petitioner had submitted an application claiming refund way-back on 10.08.2019, the application has remained pending till date.
Though the petitioner, Rajcomp Info Services Ltd, has been running from pillar to posts and repeatedly approached the Central and State GST authorities, as late as on 22.08.2022, he was informed from the help desk of Central GST that the application for claiming refund is pending with Central Jurisdiction Officer of the respondent. The petitioner, having waited for further period of nine months, has finally approached the Court.
Section 54 of the CGST Act provides provisions for claiming refunds of excess GST paid by a registered person. It sets out various conditions and time limits for claiming such refunds, along with the relevant dates for determining the eligibility for refunds.
As per Section 54 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the proper officer shall issue an order for the refund within sixty days from the date of receipt of a complete refund application. If the refund is not issued within the said period, one is entitled to an additional interest at the rate notified by the Government.
Taxpayers can claim refunds of taxes paid on inputs, input services, and capital goods that are used for business purposes, as well as for exports and zero-rated supplies.
A Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court comprising Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice Anil Kumar Upman observed that “At this stage, we are inclined to dispose of the petition with a direction to the respondent no.2, Principal Commissioner, CGST and Central Excise Commissionerate to ensure that the application claiming refund filed by the petitioner before an Officer subordinate to him is decided within the outer limit of 60 days.”
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