SAD refund should be claimed within one-year from the date of payment

A.S. Chattha Exim Private Limited Vs Commissioner of Customs (Port) (CESTAT Kolkata)

The Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) Kolkata recently adjudicated on the refund claims for Special Additional Duty (SAD) filed by A.S. Chattha Exim Private Limited against the Commissioner of Customs (Port). The core issue revolved around the interpretation of the time limit for filing refund applications under relevant notifications.

Detailed Analysis:

The appellant, represented by Shri S. Chatterjee, argued that the one-year time limit for filing refund applications should start from the date of sale of goods, citing precedent in Dow Chemical International Pvt. Ltd. vs. Commissioner of Customs, Kandla. Conversely, the Revenue’s representative referred to the precedent set in M/s. Abhishek Marketing vs. Commissioner of Customs (Port), Kolkata, which emphasized that the time limit begins from the date of payment of additional customs duty.

Upon hearing both sides and examining the appeal documents, the tribunal noted a consistent legal stance in similar cases. Notably, in the case of M/s. Abhishek Marketing, the tribunal had previously ruled that the time limit for filing refund claims commences from the date of payment of additional customs duty, as specified in the notifications.

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