Weatherproof Solution & Anr Vs State of Gujarat & Anr. (Gujarat High Court)
The Gujarat High Court considered whether a petitioner could obtain refund of Rs.3,90,762/- representing unadjusted and unutilised input tax credit shown in its final VAT return for the period 1st April, 2017 to 30th June, 2017, despite the petitioner having migrated to GST from 01.07.2017 and not having carried the credit forward through Form GST-TRAN-1.
The petitioner had filed quarterly VAT Form 201 for April-June 2017 and shown Rs.3,90,762/- as “amount of tax credit carried forward to the next tax period”. After migration to GST, it did not transfer the excess VAT credit through Form GST-TRAN-1. It later requested assessment and refund by letters dated 26.10.2020, 29.03.2023 and 05.01.2024. The respondent rejected the refund application on 05.03.2024 on the ground that the time limit for assessment under Section 34 of the VAT Act had expired.
The petitioners submitted that, in the absence of notice under Section 33(3)(c) read with Rule 30(2) of the VAT Rules and in the absence of an audit assessment under Section 34(2), the return stood deemed to have been assessed. They contended that Rule 15(6) required refund of admissible unadjusted tax credit and relied upon Eicher Motor Limited Versus Union of India, Collector of Central Excise Versus Dai Ichi Karkaria Limited, Union of India versus Jalyan Udyog and State of Maharashtra versus Swanstone Multiplex Cinema Private Limited.
