Premier M Plex Vs Assistant Commissioner (Kerala High Court)
Summary: The petitioner, Premier M Plex, a registered taxpayer under the CGST/KSGST Act, challenged Ext.P3 order passed under Section 73 of the CGST Act insofar as input tax credit was denied for the periods December 2018 to March 2019, November 2019 to March 2020 and April 2020 to March 2021 on the ground that the returns were not filed within the time contemplated under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act. The petitioner did not contest the other findings in Ext.P3 and confined the challenge to the denial of input tax credit under Section 16(4), relying on Section 16(5) of the CGST Act.
The Court noted that Section 16(5) contemplates entitlement to input tax credit where the relevant returns are furnished up to 30.11.2021. From Ext.P3 and the returns produced as Ext.P1, the Court found that the returns for December 2018 to March 2019 were submitted on 18.12.2019, 23.12.2019 and 02.01.2020. The returns for November 2019 to March 2020 were furnished on 29.11.2021, and the returns for April 2020 to March 2021 were also furnished on 29.11.2021. The Court therefore found that all the relevant returns had been submitted within the cut-off date contemplated under Section 16(5).
