wrong availment of ITC and reversal thereof

[BalKrishan Rakheja]

A dealer availed ITC amounting to ₹ 5.25 Crore of CGST in the month of July 2017 as input tax credit without receiving the goods and also availed the same amount as transitional credit in the month of Sept 2017 in respsect of stock held with the excise invoices. As the ITC credit availed in the month of July 2017 was not available therefore he was asked to reverse the same immediateley. But he reversed the same in the month of February 2018 from the IGST Credit. Moreover he utilized this amount (wrongly credit availed in July 2017) for payment of duty of output tax in the month of October and November 2017. Now the question is:

1. whether he can reverse the same from IGST account, Hoever he availed CGST credit.

2. whether interest is not leviable.

3. whether penalty is not leviable as he not only availed the ITC wrongly but utilized the same also for payment of output tax also by way of fraud and willful misstatement .

4. whether he should not deposit this amount in cash account as the ITC availed wrongly was has already been used. if It was was not been availed by him in July 2017, then he was required to pay duty from the cash ledger in the month of October and November. However in this case he used the ITC availalbe in the credit ledger, in fact which was not available to him

[KASTURI SETHI]

Query-wise reply is as under:-

(1) NO

(2) Yes. Now interest is chargeable even if taken but not utilized. You have taken and used both wrongly.

(3) Yes.

(4) The dealer will have to pay GST in cash as no credit was legally available to dealer.

In case the dealer deposits due GST along with interest on his own i.e. without show cause notice he will get the benefit of reduced penalty.

[YAGAY andSUN]

We understand that It is very grave offence. Please check the appended News.

Chartered Accountant and Excise Officer Arrested for Wrongful IPT Claim worth 52 Crore

A Chartered Accountant and an excise and taxation department officer (ETO), namely Rajesh Arora and Gaurav Bahal have been arrested in Gurugram for claiming wrongful input tax credit claim worth 52 crore rupees, reports said.

Sources said that the Cartered Accountant used to make fake bills on the name of ‘Uma Shankar Traders’ and ‘Vipin Enterprises’ and submit them to seek input credit of around ₹ 52 crore.

The fraud was unearthed in Chandigarh when it was found that Vipin enterprise did not existed at all. However, Uma Shankar Traders had been operating in Sector 29, but the owner of the company had no information about the bills. The accused made the the fake company in 2015 and has been involved in the fraud since then.

[Ganeshan Kalyani]

I endorse the views of the experts. Thanks.

[KASTURI SETHI]

Dear Querist, It is suggested that such like query should be avoided in this forum as TMI is very popular and hence read by the department's officers alsom We cannot forget that TMI is perused by a large number of people who do not comment upon. They are silent visitors. And the number of such visitors is limitless.

AI Summary

Wrong availing of input tax credit: reversal from IGST not permitted; interest and penalty are leviable, cash payment required. Wrong availing of input tax credit (CGST) without receipt of goods cannot be rectified by reversing from the IGST ledger; the reversal must correspond to the legally available credit. Use of wrongly availed credit to pay output tax does not validate the credit. Interest is chargeable where credit was wrongly availed and utilized, and penalties may apply for wrongful availment, utilisation, fraud or willful misstatement. Tax must be paid in cash when credit was not legally available, though voluntary payment of tax and interest before notice may reduce penalty.