GST refund interest denied where refund was released promptly after complete application and procedural compliance.

Interest on a GST refund is payable under Section 56 of the Haryana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 only if a refund sanctioned under Section 54 is not released within sixty days from receipt of a complete application. Here, the taxpayer had complied with the refund procedure, including reversal of input tax credit and filing the required application, after which the proper officer issued acknowledgement in Form RFD-02 and released the refund the next day. As there was no delay attributable to the authorities in granting the refund, the claim for interest failed and was rejected.

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Issues: Whether the petitioner was entitled to interest on the refund amount when the refund was sanctioned after the refund application was processed in terms of the GST refund procedure.

Analysis: The claim for interest was examined with reference to Section 56 of the Haryana Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, which makes interest payable only when a refund ordered under Section 54 is not granted within the prescribed period of sixty days from receipt of a complete application. The record showed that after the petitioner complied with the prescribed refund procedure, including reversal of the input tax credit and submission of the required application, the proper officer issued acknowledgement in Form RFD-02 and released the refund on the very next day. On these facts, there was no delay attributable to the respondents in making the refund payment.

Conclusion: The petitioner was not entitled to interest, and the claim was rejected.

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