GST refund is not taxable when the assessee follows the...

GST refund is not taxable when the assessee follows the exclusive method of accounting and does not route the indirect tax component through the profit and loss account. The refund in issue had been recorded as a receivable from the tax department, so it merely represented recovery of an amount already shown as an asset or as loan and advance. As the corresponding tax component had not been claimed as expenditure, the refund did not assume the character of income. The processing adjustment adding it to income was unsustainable and the addition was deleted.