GST Refund for Multiple Tax Period (RFD-01A)

The central government introduced multiple GST refund period application for the taxpayers. There are some important points regarding the multiple tax refund period:

1. Refund application filing for multiple tax period is available for below grounds of refund:

a) Export of Goods & Services-Without payment of Tax

b) Supplies made to SEZ Unit / SEZ Developer-Without payment of Tax

2. Refund application can be filed using refund application Form GST-RFD-01A & selecting a particular tax period.

3. The multiple tax period application has following restrictions:

a. Multiple tax period selection should be within financial year.

b. Application has to be filed chronologically for tax periods and in case refund application is not to be filed for any tax period,a declaration of No Refund Application is to be provided.

For example: April 2018 to June 2018 refund application cannot be filed till application or No refund application declaration is filed for any tax period prior to April 2018.

4. For claiming refund,taxpayer would have to upload invoice details mandatorily in the statement template available in the refund application itself.

5. The statement uploaded by taxpayers will be validated by system from the invoice data declared/provided by the taxpayer at the time of filing return for that period for which refund is claimed.

6. Only after validating data from system,the taxpayer would be able to file refund application.

7. All the invoice details are to be provided in a single statement. Taxpayer is not required to upload multiple statements for different periods separately.

8. After filing refund application,taxpayer would not be able to claim refund for that invoice again in some other refund application as the system will lock the invoice for which refund is claimed in one application. Also,taxpayer would not be able to amend invoice details after claiming refund.

9. Taxpayer can also attach any other supporting document, if required 4 documents can be uploaded with a single refund application in pdf format.Max size allowed for a document is 5MB.

10. After filing of refund application by taxpayer, refund application Form GST-RFD-01A along with the statement and documents uploaded shall be available to tax officer for review and processing of refund.

11. As the functionality for multiple tax period has been made available, therefore to avoid duplication, the refund applications in the categories mentioned in Point 2 above ,that were SAVED in the GST system will be purged and removed from the system.

Also Read- Advisory for Taxpayers to file Refund for Multiple Tax period

FAQ’s related to Multiple Refund Period (Refund of ITC paid on Exports of Goods and Services without payment of Tax)

A. How can taxpayer get the refund of ITC on account of exports without payment of Tax?

The Taxpayer may comply with the activities as specified below:

1. Taxpayer have to file refund application in Form RFD – 01A at GST Portal and Taxpayer can file for refund of multiple tax period in one refund application.

2. Taxpayer have to provide turnover of Zero-Related supplies and Adjusted Total Turnover in a State or UT for the period refund is sought for.

3. The Net ITC auto populated can be edited downwards. The Net ITC in table “Computation of Refund to be claimed” is auto-populated by the system and can be edited downwards considering net ITC availed for the heads of CGST/SGST/IGST together and Cess in the return for the respective tax period for which refund is claimed excluding any ITC related to Capital Goods, transition ITC that may have been posted in the ledger on account of transition ITC claims in the said period as well as refund claimed under Rule 89(4A) (deemed export) and/ or (4B) (merchant exporter or export).

4. System will auto calculate the eligible refund amount and post in the last column of table “Maximum refund amount to be claimed”.

5. The system also indicates balances in each head of the taxpayer’s Electronic Credit ledger on the day of filing of the return of the tax period and the balance when he is filing the refund application

6. The taxpayer has to enter the amount of refund claimed in such a manner that the amount in each head is equal to or lower than the lowest balance in each head of Electronic credit ledger indicated above and the total refund should not exceed the “Maximum Refund that can be claimed”.

7. Applicant has to be careful while furnishing values in Form RFD -01A, as no rectification in application is allowed after its filling.

8. Applicant has to ensure that he has filed the return GSTR-1 and GSTR- 3B for the all the tax periods pertaining to which Refund is claimed.

9. Balance in ITC ledger should be sufficient in each head (IGST/CGST/SGST/UTGST/CESS).

10. He should have exported goods/service on account of which he is claiming ITC refund. In case of Export of Goods, tax payer shall provide Shipping Bill and EGM details.

11. In case of export of services, he should have obtained FIRC/BRC from the concerned bank for receipt of foreign exchange.

12. Once Application Reference Number (ARN) is generated, refund application filed shall be assigned to Jurisdictional Refund Processing Officer for processing. Refund applicant can track the status of refund application filed using “Track Application status” functionality on the portal.

Note: Form RFD 01A for a period can be filed only after filing of valid Form GSTR-1 and Form GSTR-3B for that particular Return Period.

13. The Invoice details given under Form GSTR – 1/ Table 6A of Form GSTR – 1 and given under refund statement should be same.

B. What are the relied upon documents which I have to upload with refund application for ITC refund?

Ans. The have to upload documents as are required to be filed along with Form RFD-01A as notified under CGST Rules or Circulars issued in the matter and other such documents the refund sanctioning authority may require.

C. To whom should I file my application with?

Ans. The taxpayer shall file the refund application in Form RFD-01A on GST portal. After filing, refund application shall be assigned to Refund Processing Officer and refund applicant can track the status of refund application.

D. Can Taxpayer file for multiple tax period in one refund application?

Ans. Yes, taxpayer can file for refund of multiple tax period in one refund application.

E. Can Taxpayer file nil refund for multiple tax period in one refund application?

Ans. Yes, you can file for nil refund for multiple tax period in one refund application.

F. Can nil period of refund be combined with the period in which there is refund in one application?

Ans. Yes, nil period of refund be combined with the period in which there is refund in one application.

For Example: Taxpayer want to file tax refund from Apr-Sep month, where you want to file nil refund for May-Jun month. There are two ways in which you can file your refund application.

Taxpayer can select Tax Period as Apr-Apr and file normal refund application. You can then select May-Jun and file Nil refund application. and, select Jul-Sep and file normal refund application.

Taxpayer can select Tax Period as Apr-Sep and file normal refund application.

G. Can I save the application for refund?

Ans. Application for refund can be saved at any stage of completion for a maximum time period of 15 days. If the same is not filed within 15 days, the saved draft will be purged from the GST database.

Note: To view your saved application, navigate to Services > Refunds > My Saved/Filed Applications option.

H. Whether I would be able to file refund application without uploading statement of invoices?

Ans. No. Statement of invoices is mandatory for filing refund application.

The statement uploaded by taxpayer would be validated with the data already declared by the taxpayer while filing return. Only after this data is validated, the taxpayer would be able to file the refund application.

I. I am getting a message “validated with error” while uploading statement on the GST Portal. What do I do?

Ans. In case any statement is validated with error, click the Download Invalid Invoice link. Open the invalid invoice excel sheet. Error details are displayed. You can only rectify the error details in the JSON file and upload on the GST Portal again by clicking the CLICK HERE TO UPLOAD button.

J. I have uploaded statement which has been validated on the GST Portal. I need to upload a new statement of invoices again. What do I do?

Ans. If you don’t have any error and statement has been validated, and then you want to update/delete the statement, then you would have to first delete the whole statement by clicking the DELETE STATEMENT button and upload a new statement of invoices again if needed.

K. Taxpayer getting an error that “Future date is not allowed for Invoice Document” while uploading statement on the GST Portal using the offline utility even if I am providing correct invoice dates. Why?

Ans. For offline utilities, there is no server date available and hence the utility will have to depend on local system date for validation. In case your system has incorrect date, such issues can come.

L. What happens when refund application is filed?

Ans. GST Portal generates an ARN and displays it in a confirmation message, indicating that the refund application has been successfully filed.

• GST Portal sends the ARN to registered e-mail ID and mobile number of the registered taxpayer.
• GST Portal also makes a Debit entry in the Electronic Credit Ledger for the amount claimed as refund.

M. When / how will the refund Form RFD-01A be processed?

Ans. Once the ARN is generated on filing of refund application in Form RFD-01A, the refund application along with the documents attached while filing the form would be assigned to Refund Processing Officer for processing the refund. Tax payer can track the status of refund application using track status functionality.

The application will be processed and refund will be disbursed by the Jurisdictional Authority after scrutiny.

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