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2023 (11) TMI 663 - HC - GSTRefusal on the part of the respondents to refund the excess input tax under the GST Act - delay in filing the application for refund - amendment made to Section 54(1) to the GST Act - HELD THAT - Insofar as the question of delay is concerned, the period between 15/03/2020 to 28/02/2022 has been excluded by the Hon ble Apex Court in IN RE COGNIZANCE FOR EXTENSION OF LIMITATION 2021 (5) TMI 564 - SC ORDER and considering the deletion of this period, the application which has been filed on 13/5/2020 for the month of December, 2017, would be within time. Applicability of the amendment to Section 54(1) of the GST Act - HELD THAT - It would be apparent that the amendment would be prospective in nature, unless so specified, which is not the case and therefore, the amended Section 54(1) would be applicable to the application for refund filed post 01/02/2019 to claim for refund in respect of returns filed consequent to that date. It would therefore, be apparent that the application for refund of the input tax to be filed by the petitioner would be covered by the earlier definition of relevant date which defined the same as end of financial year and not the amended definition of relevant date which defines it as due date for furnishing return. The application filed by the petitioner for refund of the input tax for the month of December, 2017 ought to have been entertained for the above period by the respondents and appropriate orders could have been passed - The petition is allowed by directing the respondents to accept and entertain the applications for refund of input tax and process them according to the rules as applicable.
Issues involved:
The issues involved in the judgment are the refusal of refund of excess input tax under the GST Act for the months of December 2017 to March 2018 based on delay in filing the application and the applicability of the amendment made to Section 54(1) of the GST Act in 2019. Refusal of Refund for December 2017 to March 2018: The petition challenges the rejection of refund applications for the months of December 2017 to March 2018 due to delay in filing and unavailability of the application for the previous month. The petitioner argues for manual filing and processing of refund under Section 97-A of the GST Act, citing the case of Laxmi Organic Industries Ltd. vs. Union of India. The petitioner contends that the amendment to the definition of 'relevant date' should be applied prospectively, not prior to 01/02/2019. Calculation of Two-Year Limitation for Refund: The Assistant Government Pleader argues that the two-year limitation for filing refund applications should be calculated based on the amended provision effective from 2019. Since the application was not filed within the due date as per the amended provision of Section 54(1) of the GST Act, it was rightly rejected. Exclusion of Period for Delay: The exclusion of the period between 15/03/2020 to 28/02/2022 by the Hon'ble Apex Court is considered, making the application filed on 13/5/2020 for December 2017 within the time limit. This exclusion affects the timeliness of the refund application. Applicability of Amendment to Section 54(1) of the GST Act: The judgment determines that the amendment to Section 54(1) of the GST Act is prospective unless specified otherwise. As the amendment does not specify retrospective application, the earlier definition of 'relevant date' applies to the petitioner's refund application for December 2017. Decision and Order: The Court holds that the petitioner's application for refund of input tax for December 2017 should have been entertained by the respondents. Additionally, the petitioner is allowed to file manual applications for refund for the months of January to March 2018 as per Rule 97-A of the GST Rules. The respondents are directed to accept and process the refund applications according to the applicable rules. No costs are awarded in this matter.
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