Exporters Win: Tax Authorities Must Process IGST Refund Manually Despite GSTR-1 Filing Errors Within 12 Weeks

HC ruled in favor of petitioner, directing tax authorities to manually process IGST refund of Rs. 19,44,122 for exported goods within twelve weeks. Despite procedural errors in GSTR-1 filing, the court acknowledged the legitimate refund claim under GST laws. No interest was awarded, and the petition was disposed of without additional costs.

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Issues:
Petition for refund of IGST paid on exported goods due to inadvertent mistake in filing GSTR-1.

Analysis:
The petitioners sought a direction for the refund of IGST amounting to Rs. 19,44,122/- paid for goods exported but not included in Form GSTR-1. The petitioner included the IGST amount in Form GSTR-3B and GSTR-9. The petitioner, upon realizing the error, tried to amend Form GSTR-1 but was unsuccessful as the refund was already claimed based on shipping bills. The petitioner made multiple representations to authorities for refund, citing Circular no.12 of 2018-Cus. The Customs office informed the petitioner that they cannot amend the errors made in GSTR-1 data. The petitioner approached the High Court seeking relief.

Advocate for the petitioner argued that the inadvertent mistake deprived the petitioner of a legitimate refund under Section 54 of the CGST Act and Section 16 of the IGST Act. Referring to a previous court decision, it was contended that the authorities should manually process the refund and credit the amount to the petitioner's account. On the other hand, the respondent's advocate acknowledged the petitioner's eligibility for the refund but highlighted the system limitation preventing the refund.

The High Court directed the respondent authorities to manually process the refund within twelve weeks, emphasizing that the petitioner would not be entitled to interest on the refund due to the error. The court disposed of the petition without any costs.

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