Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. Vs Commissioner of GST & Central Excise (CESTAT Chennai)
Right to claim Service Tax Refund cannot be frustrated for Procedural requirement of filing TRAN-1 before Dec 27, 2017: CESTAT
The Chennai Bench of Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in the matter of M/s. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. vs. Commissioner of GST & Central Excise [Excise Appeal No. 40546 of 2021 dated December 15, 2021] held that, right to claim Service Tax refund cannot be denied merely on account of procedural lapse of filing TRAN-1 before December 27, 2017.
Facts:
M/s. Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (“the Appellant”) is engaged in manufacture of boiler auxiliaries namely electrostatic precipitator, air pre-heaters, fans etc. and are registered with the Central Excise Department. They also have Service Tax registration as they are service providers as well as recipient of service. After introduction of GST, they migrated to GST and obtained necessary registration.
The Appellant received various inputs and input services into their factory for the use in their manufacturing activity.
As per the provisions under CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004, as amended in 2015, the Appellants were eligible to avail credit of the duty / tax paid on inputs and input services within a period of one year. However, they had not availed the credit on such inputs and input services till June 30, 2017. Since credit on the inputs /input services could not be availed before June 30, 2017, the same was not reflected in the ER-1 returns filed by them. It could not be carried forward through TRAN-1 to new GST regime. They later filed an application for refund of the credit. After due process of law, the original authority rejected the claim stating that they ought to have taken the credit within 90 days of the appointed day and submit a declaration electronically informing GST TRAN-1 in accordance with Rule 117 of Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (“CGST Rules”).
Issue:
Whether right to claim Service Tax refund can be denied for procedural requirement of filing TRAN-1 before December 27, 2017?
Held:
The CESTAT, Chennai in Excise Appeal No. 40546 of 2021 dated December 15, 2021 held as under:
