Kameswari Agencies Vs Assistant Commissioner (Andhra Pradesh High court)
In Kameswari Agencies Vs Assistant Commissioner, the Andhra Pradesh High Court considered a writ petition challenging orders dated 29.08.2024 and 30.08.2024 rejecting the petitioner’s Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims for the period from 01.04.2019 to 31.03.2020.
The petitioner, a registered person under the GST Act, had filed ITC claims for tax periods from September 2019 to March 2020 on 26.10.2020 and 27.10.2020. The first respondent rejected the claims on the ground that the limitation period under Section 16(4) of the GST Act had expired on 25.10.2020, and therefore the claims filed after that date were time-barred.
The petitioner contended before the High Court that Section 16(5) of the GST Act, introduced with effect from 01.07.2017, extended the time limit for availing ITC relating to Financial Years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 up to 30.11.2021. According to the petitioner, since the ITC claims related to the financial year 2019-20 and were filed in October 2020, the claims were well within the extended period prescribed under Section 16(5).
The High Court examined Section 16(5) and observed that it specifically allowed registered persons to avail ITC for the specified financial years in any return filed up to 30.11.2021. The Court noted that the petitioner’s claims related to the financial year 2019-20, which was covered by the provision.
