Refund For April To June 2018 Can Be Claimed Till 21.6.2021 And For April To June 2019 Till 24.7.2021: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court has held that refunds on exports in the period April, 2018 to June, 2018 can be claimed till 21.6.2021 and refunds for exports made in April, 2019 to June, 2019 refund can be claimed till 24.7.2021

Petitioner applied for refund on 31.3.2021 and 21.6.2021 for the period April, 2018 to March, 2019) and on 30.6.2021 and 24.7.2021 for the tax period April, 2019 to June, 2019 which were rejected on grounds of delay.

The Court observed that petitioner could claim refund within two years from the relevant date i.e. date of export. Since the exports were in 2018 and 2019, the refund applications could only be filed in 2020 and 2021. The Court further observed that limitation remained suspended from 15.2.2020 to 28.2.2022 due to Covid-19.

Accordingly, the bench comprising of Justice Saumitra Dayal Singh and Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra held that

“Seen in that light, the applications for refund were filed by the petitioner not later than 21.6.2021 (for the tax period April, 2018 to March, 2019) and not later than 24.7.2021 (for the tax period April, 2019 to June, 2019).”

Placing reliance on the decision of Allahabad High Court in Gamma Gaana Ltd. vs. Union of India, the Court quashed the order rejecting refund claims of the petitioner.

The Court directed the Assistant Commissioner, CGST, Division- (IV) to expeditiously decide the refund applications made by the petitioner, without raising any objection as to delay.

Case Title: M/S Zest Inc v. Union Of India And 2 Others [WRIT TAX No. - 964 of 2021]

2023 LiveLaw (AB) 505

Counsel for Petitioner: Shubham Agrawal

Counsel for Respondent: Amit Mahajan

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