Time limit conditions to avail credit also applicable on Bill of Entry for import of goods

The Maharashtra AAR, in the case of  IN RE: M/S. ADI ENTERPRISES - 2025 (6) TMI 919 - AUTHORITY FOR ADVANCE RULING, MAHARASHTRA has held that the time limit prescribed under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act applies equally to ITC availed on the basis of a Bill of Entry, and consequently an importer cannot claim such credit in a subsequent GSTR‑3B once the deadline has passed.

Facts:

M/s. Adi Enterprises (“the Applicant”), a manufacturer and exporter of earbuds classified under HSN 96190090, paid IGST of ₹ 9,00,939 on imports through a Bill of Entry in August 2022. This credit was auto‑populated in GSTR‑2A for August 2022 and in GSTR‑2B for March 2023, but the Applicant failed to claim it in any GSTR‑3B return for the financial year 2022–23, and did not claim it before the 30 November 2023 cut‑off under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act.

It was in this backdrop that Adi Enterprises sought an advance ruling on whether the statutory deadline applied to ITC claimed via Bill of Entry. .

Issue:

Whether the time limit for availing ITC under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act, 2017, also applies to ITC claimed on the basis of a Bill of Entry?

Held:

The Maharashtra AAR, in  IN RE: M/S. ADI ENTERPRISES - 2025 (6) TMI 919 - AUTHORITY FOR ADVANCE RULING, MAHARASHTRAheld as under:

• The AAR held that a Bill of Entry qualifies as a “tax invoice” under Section 31 read with Rule 46, since it contains essential particulars such as description, quantity, value, and tax charged, and noted that the import of goods constitutes an inter‑State supply attracting IGST on the importer; it further observed that the provisions of Section 31 of the CGST Act apply mutatis mutandis to the IGST Act.
• Noted that while Section 16(2)(a) refers to “tax invoice or debit note or such other tax‑paying documents as may be prescribed” (which would include Bill of Entry under Rule 36(1)(d)) of the CGST RulesSection 16(4) expressly limits the time‑barred documents to “invoice or debit note” alone. However, observing that Section 20 of the IGST Act makes the CGST provisions mutatis mutandis applicable to IGST, the AAR held that the time limit under Section 16(4) extends to import‑related ITC as well. Emphasizing the purpose of Section 16(4)—to ensure timely ITC claims, prevent indefinite carry‑forward of credits, and maintain fiscal discipline—the Authority ruled that all forms of ITC, including that on imports, must satisfy the same conditions. It concluded that the term “invoice” in Section 16(4)  must be interpreted to include any document evidencing tax payment, such as a Bill of Entry.
• The AAR answered the question in the affirmative, holding that the time limit under Section 16(4) applies to ITC claimed via a Bill of Entry.

Our Comments:

This ruling decisively closes a potential ambiguity for importers by affirming that ITC on imported goods to be availed on BOE and that too by the statutory deadline, as prescribed. Importers should ensure that all IGST credits appear in their GSTR‑3B submissions by 30th November following the relevant financial year, failing which those credits will lapse irrevocably. The decision underscores the conditional nature of ITC and the importance of synchronizing filing practices with compliance timelines across GST returns and refund provisions.

 (Author can be reached at [email protected])