GST Refund

[Raja Krishnan]

Good Morning to all Experts,

Recommendations of 53rd GST Council Meeting

Relaxation in condition of section 16 (4) of the CGST Act:

a) In respect of initial years of implementation of GST, i.e., financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21:

The GST Councilrecommended that the time limit to avail input tax credit in respect of any invoice or debit note under Section 16 (4) of CGST Act, through any return in FORM GSTR 3B filed upto 30.11.2021 for the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, may be deemed to be 30.11.2021. For the same, requisite amendment in section 16(4) of CGST Act, retrospectively, w.e.f. 01.07.2017, has been recommended by the Council.

My Doubt, Is it is eligible for GST Refund for the year of 2017-2018?

[Padmanathan KV]

what is the refund related to?

[Raja Krishnan]

Dear Sir,

During the COVID-19, our Refund application (Zero Rated Sales under LUT without payment of Duty mode) was rejected by the department for the year of 2017-2018 on March 2021 because of time bar.

[Padmanathan KV]

There was no such proposal in the GST Council for extension of time for refund.

Anyways, you may consider the following aspects:

1. Kindly check whether the refund was within the relaxation granted during Covid-19 vide Notification No 13/2022 Central Tax.

2. Madras High Court Judgement in Lenovo Case wherein Court has held that the time limit under sec 54 is only directory.

[Raja Krishnan]

Thank you Padmanathan Sir,

Anyway, we will waiting for proper Notification for clear picture, as per K.L.Sethi sir advise.

[Shilpi Jain]

I do not see any time relaxation for refund in the press release relating to recent council meeting.

AI Summary

Time limit for GST refund: input tax credit deemed extended, but no formal relaxation for refund claims announced.
The 53rd GST Council recommended deeming the time to avail input tax credit under section 16(4) of the CGST Act to a single retrospective cutoff for early GST years. A forum query asked whether a zero rated supplies refund refused as time barred for an early year would now be eligible; replies observed no explicit Council extension for refunds, advised checking relevant notifications, and cited judicial authority treating the refund limitation as directory.