Case Law Details
Acrologic Business Solutions Private Limited Vs Assistant Commissioner of Central Taxes (Madras High Court)
In a recent judgment, the Madras High Court allowed the exclusion of the period impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic from the limitation period for filing a GST refund. The case, involving Acrologic Business Solutions Private Limited and the Assistant Commissioner of Central Taxes, dealt with the rejection of a refund claim amounting to Rs.7,34,732/-.
Background of the Case: Acrologic Business Solutions Private Limited, a Business Process Outsourcing company, exported services without payment of IGST and claimed a refund of unutilized Input Tax Credit (ITC) under Section 16(3) of the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, and Section 54 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act). The petitioner filed a refund application in September 2020, seeking the refund of unutilized ITC related to services exported from April 2018 to March 2019.
The Assistant Commissioner issued a notice questioning certain ITC claims and disallowed a portion of the refund claim. The petitioner, in response, cited the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its ability to function normally and requested the condonation of the delay. The appellate authority, however, rejected the refund claim for the period from April 2018 to August 2018 as time-barred.
Legal Contention: The petitioner argued that the period impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic should be excluded from the limitation period for filing a refund application. The petitioner referred to a notification (No.13/2022-C.T.) issued on 05.07.2022, which excluded the period from 01.03.2020 to 28.02.2022 for computing the limitation period for filing a refund application under Section 54 of the CGST Act.
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