Refund to UN Bodies, Embassies, diplomats and other persons notified [Section 55 of CGST Act] - GST Ready Reckoner - GST

Refund to UN Bodies ,Embassies, diplomats and other persons notified Who is entitled refund under section 55 As per Section 55 of CGST Act 2017 The Government may, on the recommendations of the Council, by notification, specify any specialised agency of the United Nations Organisation or any Multilateral Financial Institution and Organisation notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947, Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries and any other person or class of persons as may be specified in this behalf, who shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed, be entitled to claim a refund of taxes paid on the notified supplies of goods or services or both received by them. Time limit of filling refund claim [ section 54(2) read with rule 95(1) of CGST Rules] A specialised agency of the United Nations Organisation or any Multilateral Financial Institution and Organisation notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947 Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries or any other person or class of persons, as notified under section 55, entitled to a refund of tax paid by it on inward supplies of goods or services or both, may make an application for such refund, in such form and manner as may be prescribed, before the expiry of two years from the last day of the quarter in which such supply was received. Procedure of claiming refund [ Rule 95 of CGST Rules ] Form and documents for filling the refund claim :- Any person eligible to claim refund of tax paid by him on his inward supplies as per notification issued under section 55 of CGST Act shall apply for refund in FORM GST RFD-10 once in every quarter, electronically on the common portal or otherwise, either directly or through a Facilitation Centre notified by the Commissioner, along with a statement of the inward supplies of goods or services or both in FORM GSTR-11 . Acknowledgment for refund claim :- An acknowledgement for the receipt of the application for refund shall be issued in FORM GST RFD-02 . Condition to be satisfied for sanction of refund :- The refund of tax paid by the applicant shall be available if- (a) the inward supplies of goods or services or both were received from a registered person against a tax invoice (b) name and Goods and Services Tax Identification Number or Unique Identity Number of the applicant is mentioned in the tax invoice; and (c) such other restrictions or conditions as may be specified in the notification are satisfied. where Unique Identity Number of the applicant is not mentioned in a tax invoice, the refund of tax paid by the applicant on such invoice shall be available only if the copy of the invoice, duly attested by the authorized representative of the applicant, is submitted along with the refund application in FORM GST RFD-10. The provisions of rule 92 of CGST Rules shall, mutatis mutandis , apply for the sanction and payment of refund under this rule. Supermacy provision in case of inconsistency :- Where an express provision in a treaty or other international agreement, to which the President or the Government of India is a party, is inconsistent with the provisions of this Chapter, such treaty or international agreement shall prevail. Specialised agencies entiled to claim refund of GST paid on notified supplies received by them, specified by the central government [ Notification No. 16/2017-Central Tax(Rate) dated 28.06.2017 ] (i) Category of notified person : - United Nations or a specified international organisation; and Condition to claim refund of GST paid on the supplies of goods or services received as per section 55 : - United Nations or a specified international organisation shall be entitled to claim refund of central tax paid on the supplies of goods or services or both received by them subject to a certificate from United Nations or that specified international organisation that the goods and services have been used or are intended to be used for official use of the United Nations or the specified international organisation. (ii) Category of notified person : - Foreign diplomatic mission or consular post in India, or diplomatic agents or career consular officers posted therein, Condition to claim refund of GST paid on the supplies of goods or services received as per section 55 : - Foreign diplomatic mission or consular post in India, or diplomatic agents or career consular officers posted therein shall be entitled to claim refund of central tax paid on the supplies of goods or services or both received by them subject to, - (i) that the foreign diplomatic mission or consular post in India, or diplomatic agents or career consular officers posted therein, are entitled to refund of central tax, as stipulated in the certificate issued by the Protocol Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, based on the principle of reciprocity; (ii) that in case of supply of services, the head of the foreign diplomatic mission or consular post, or any person of such mission or post authorised by him, shall furnish an undertaking in original, signed by him or the authorised person, stating that the supply of services received are for official purpose of the said foreign diplomatic mission or consular post; or for personal use of the said diplomatic agent or career consular officer or members of his/her family; (iii) that in case of supply of goods, concerned diplomatic mission or consulate or an officer duly authorized by him will produce a certificate that, the goods have been put to use, or are in the use, as the case may be, of the mission or consulate; the goods will not be supplied further or otherwise disposed of before the expiry of three years from the date of receipt of the goods; and in the event of non-compliance of clause (I), the diplomatic or consular mission will pay back the refund amount paid to them; (iii) in case the Protocol Division of the Ministry of External Affairs - in case the Protocol Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, after having issued a certificate to any foreign diplomatic mission or consular post in India, decides to withdraw the same subsequently, it shall communicate the withdrawal of such certificate to the foreign diplomatic mission or consular post; the refund of the whole of the central tax granted to the foreign diplomatic mission or consular post in India for official purpose or for the personal use or use of their family members shall not be available from the date of withdrawal of such certificate. (vi) Entitlement of UN and specified international organizations, foreign diplomatic mission or consular posts, diplomatic agents and consular offices post therein to refund of Compensation Cess payable on intra-State and inter-State supply of goods or services or both received by them [ Circular No. 68/42/2018-GST 5th October 2018 ] It is clarified that UN and specified international organizations, foreign diplomatic missions or consular posts in India, or diplomatic agents or career consular officers posted therein, having being specified under section 55 of the CGST Act, 2017 , are entitled to refund of Compensation Cess payable on intra-State and inter-State supply of goods or services or both received by them subject to the same conditions and restrictions, mutatis mutandis, as prescribed in Notification No. 16/2017-Central Tax(Rate) dated 28.06.2017. Clarification regarding processing of refund claims filed by UIN entities Circular No. 63/37/2018 - GST 14th September, 2018 4. In order to expedite the processing of the refund applications filed by the UIN entities, the following formats/documents are hereby specified: 4.1 Refund Checklist: In order to bring in uniformity in the processing of the refund claims, a checklist has been specified in Annexure A. All UIN entities may refer to this checklist while filing the refund claims. 4.2 Certificate: A sample certificate to be submitted by Embassy/Mission/Consulate is enclosed as Annexure-B and that to be submitted by United Nations Organizations/Specified International Organizations is enclosed as Annexure-B-1. 4.3 Undertaking: A sample undertaking to be submitted by Embassy/Mission/Consulate is enclosed as Annexure-C and that to be submitted by United Nations Organizations/Specified International Organizations is enclosed as Annexure-C-1. 4.4 Statement of Invoices: The detailed statement of invoices shall be submitted in the format specified in Annexure D. 5. Prior Permission letter for GST refund for purchase of vehicles: MEA vide letter F. No. D_II/451/12(5)/2017 dated 21.06.2018 has informed that it is mandatory to enclose the copy of Prior Permission Letter issued by the Protocol Special Section of MEA at the time of submission of GST refund for purchase of vehicle by the foreign representatives. Accordingly, it is advised that UIN entities must submit the copy of the Prior Permission letter and mention the same in the covering letter while applying for GST refund on purchase of vehicles to avoid delay in processing of refunds. 6. Non-availability of refunds to personnel and officials of United Nations and other International organizations : It is hereby clarified that the personnel and officials of United Nations and other International organizations are not eligible to claim refund under Notifications No. 13/2017 Integrated Tax (Rate), 16/2017-Central Tax (Rate) and No. 16/2017 Union Territory tax (Rate) all dated 28th June, 2017 and corresponding notifications under the respective State Goods and Services Tax Acts. However, the eligibility of refund for the personnel and officials posted in the Embassy/Mission/Consulate shall be determined based on the principle of reciprocity. 7. Waiver from recording UIN in the invoices for the months of April, 2018 to March, 2020 : A one-time waiver is hereby given from recording the UIN on the invoices issued by the suppliers pertaining to the refund claims filed for the quarters from April, 2018 to March, 2020, subject to the condition that the copies of such invoices which are attested by the authorized representative of the UIN entity shall be submitted to the jurisdictional officer. 8. Format of Monthly report: Circular No. 36/10/2018-GST dated 13th March, 2018 provides for a monthly report to be furnished to the Principal Director General of Goods and Services Tax by the 30th of the succeeding month. The report shall now be furnished in a new format as specified in Annexure E of circular.