Refund of ITC cannot be refused if shipping bill details are not provided in GSTR 1.
Recently, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐥 𝐊𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐫 𝐕𝐬 𝐂𝐆𝐒𝐓 directed the GST Department to overlook the taxpayer’s unintentional omission of shipping bill details in GSTR 1 and consider the physical copies of shipping bills to process the refund.
𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬
𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬:
The taxpayer filed a 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐓𝐂 on account of zero-rated supply. However, the same was rejected by the jurisdictional officer and the Appellate Authority on the grounds that 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐆𝐒𝐓𝐑 𝟏.
𝐓𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:
– The taxpayer acknowledged that the omission of uploading shipping bill details in GSTR 1 resulted from a misinterpretation of the law but the taxpayer has submitted the physical copies of the shipping bills during the appellate stage.
– Despite attempts to amend GSTR 1 to correct the mistake after applying for the refund, the online portal did not permit the amendment.
𝐆𝐒𝐓 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:
– The Appellate Authority relied upon 𝐂𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐍𝐨. 𝟏𝟐𝟓/𝟒𝟒/𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗 which requires the proper officer to check the shipping bill details from the ICEGATE SITE and corelate the same with details furnished in Table 9 of GSTR 1 wherever applicable.
– The rejection of the refund claim is deemed appropriate under the law, as it mandates the submission of shipping bill details in GSTR 1.
𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭’𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧:
– On one hand the taxpayer is not being allowed to amend GSTR 1 and on the other hand the refund is being denied
– There is no question about the genuineness of the shipping bills.
– The Court held that a 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲.
– It was also held that 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐰.
– The Court 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 to process the refund claim and the taxpayer may be allowed to amend the GSTR 1.
