Eligibility of Input tax credit

[Sushil Aggarwal]

A supplier, has supplied goods to various branches of a buyer under different invoices on 20th March 2020. It declared all the invoices in April 20 GSTR-1 and paid taxes in relevant 3B. The supplies were interstate so EWB were also raised during the months of Mar, Apr and May but due to lock down, the goods could be delivered to the buyer only in June, July and Aug 2020. The buyer did not claim ITC in 3B in April 2020 in the absence of receipt of goods and invoices. The process is that Supplier was under obligation to first install and commission the goods under supply to make the goods acceptable. Only after that the buyer would accept invoice alongwith material. The process is completed now. Now the buyer is asking for current dated invoices to enable him to claim ITC. Sept. 2020 return has already been filed by both the supplier as well as buyer. The buyer also does not want to return the subject goods.

Q.1. What are the options with Supplier to cancel the old invoices and issue fresh invoices?

Q.2. Whether buyer can still claim ITC on the invoices dated March 20 after filing the Sept. 20 return? If yes, provisions for the same.

AI Summary

Buyer Seeks Options to Claim ITC on March 2020 Invoices After Missing September Deadline Due to Lockdown Delays A supplier delivered goods to a buyer's branches with invoices dated March 2020, but due to lockdown delays, the goods were received between June and August 2020. The buyer did not claim Input Tax Credit (ITC) in April 2020 due to the absence of goods and invoices. The buyer now seeks current dated invoices to claim ITC, despite having filed the September 2020 return. Respondents noted that the time limit for claiming ITC on invoices from April and May 2020 remains valid, but the March 2020 invoices must have been claimed by September 2020. The buyer is inquiring about options to cancel old invoices and issue new ones.