Munchester Vs State of Andhra Pradesh (Andhra Pradesh High Court)
The petitioner, a registered person under the GST Act, failed to file GSTR-3B returns for the period from January 2023 to July 2023. Due to non-filing of returns even after issuance of notice under Section 46 of the GST Act, the tax authority passed separate best judgment assessment orders for the said period under Section 62 of the Act on various dates. Subsequently, the petitioner filed GSTR-3B returns for all the disputed months, along with payment of tax, interest, and late fees, as detailed in the records placed before the Court. Despite filing returns and making payments, the assessment orders remained in force.
Aggrieved by the assessment orders, the petitioner filed statutory appeals before the appellate authority. However, the appeals were rejected by an endorsement dated 11.09.2024 on the ground that they were filed beyond the limitation period prescribed under Section 107(1) of the GST Act. Challenging both the assessment orders passed under Section 62 and the endorsement rejecting the appeals, the petitioner approached the High Court by way of a writ petition.
The tax department defended the rejection of appeals, contending that the petitioner had failed to file GSTR-3B returns within the time prescribed under Section 62(2) and that the extended period of 60 days introduced from 01.10.2023 could not be applied to the petitioner’s case. It was argued that since the returns were filed beyond 120 days, the benefit under Section 62(2) was unavailable.
