Anand And Anand (Law Firm) Vs Principal Commissioner Central Goods & Services Tax And 2 Others (Allahabad High Court)
The writ petitions were placed before the Allahabad High Court following nomination by the Chief Justice. Since common questions were involved, the matters were decided by a composite order at the fresh stage with consent of parties.
The petitioner, a law firm registered under GST at Noida, provides legal services to domestic and foreign clients. It claimed to have received convertible foreign exchange for services rendered to foreign clients and asserted entitlement to export benefits under the Foreign Trade Policy and relevant provisions of the Ministry of Finance. For the period March 2021 to August 2021, the petitioner filed refund applications under Section 54 of the CGST Act, 2017 in Form GST RFD-01 for refund of Input Tax Credit (ITC) on export of services without payment of tax. Supporting documents including ITC details, remittance certificates, FIRC copies, and letters of undertaking were submitted.
The petitioner received system-generated emails regarding issuance of RFD-08 for each month. The communications uploaded on the GST portal were unsigned and undated and treated as show cause notices. It was alleged that the FIRC mentioned legal services rendered in India and therefore the remittance was not in relation to export. The petitioner submitted replies on 19.10.2023. Subsequently, system-generated emails indicated issuance of RFD-06 orders. Orders-in-original dated 31.10.2023 (OIO Nos. 494 to 499) rejected the refund claims.
