Rakesh Krishnan Vs Deputy State Tax Officer (Kerala High Court)
Summary: Kerala High Court dealt with denial of Input Tax Credit (ITC) claimed by the petitioner for February 2020 and March 2020. The impugned Ext.P2 Order-in-Original had been passed under Section 73 of the SGST Act, declining the ITC on the ground that the petitioner had failed to furnish the returns within the period stipulated under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act.
The petitioner contended that he was entitled to the benefit of Section 16(5) of the CGST Act because the relevant returns had already been furnished before the cut-off date of 30 November 2021 prescribed under that provision. The High Court noted from Ext.P2 itself that the returns for February 2020 and March 2020 had been submitted on 6 November 2020 and 14 November 2020 respectively. Both returns were therefore filed before the stated cut-off date.
Finding merit in the petitioner’s submission, the High Court quashed Ext.P2 and directed the competent officer to reconsider the matter and grant the benefit of ITC to the petitioner in the light of Section 16(5), if the petitioner is otherwise eligible. Thus, the Court did not grant an unconditional final entitlement to ITC; the benefit was directed to be extended upon reconsideration subject to the petitioner’s other eligibility requirements.
FULL TEXT OF THE JUDGMENT/ORDER OF KERALA HIGH COURT
The petitioner is a registered tax payer under the provisions of the CGST and SGST Act. The grievance of the petitioner is against Ext.P2 Order-in-Original, passed under Section 73 of the SGST Act, by which the Input Tax Credit claimed by the petitioner for the months of February, 2020 and March, 2020 were declined on the reason that the petitioner failed to submit the return within the period stipulated under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act.
2. The case of the petitioner is that, he is entitled to get the benefit of input tax credit in the light of Section 16(5) of the CGST Act, as the petitioner had already submitted the return before the cut off date under the said provision, which is 30.11.2021.
In this case, it is discernible from Ext.P2 that the petitioner had submitted the returns for the month of February, 2020 and March, 2020 within the cut off date, i.e., on 06.11.2020 and 14.11.2020 respectively. Therefore, I find merits in the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner, as the petitioner had submitted the return within the cut off date.
In such circumstances, this writ petition is disposed of quashing Ext.P2 with a direction to the competent officer to reconsider the matter and grant the benefit of Input Tax Credit to the petitioner in the light of Section 16(5), if the petitioner is otherwise eligible.
