Ganesh Kumar Gopalan Vs State Tax Officer (Kerala High Court)
Summary: The Kerala High Court considered a writ petition filed by Ganesh Kumar Gopalan, proprietor of M/s. G S Traders, challenging an assessment order passed under Section 73 of the CGST Act. One of the findings in the assessment order was that the petitioner was not entitled to input tax credit for the period from October 2017 to March 2018 because the returns had not been filed within the time prescribed under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act.
The petitioner had initially filed an appeal against the assessment order but subsequently withdrew it, as evidenced by the appellate order. According to the petitioner, the appeal was withdrawn because of the subsequent introduction of Section 16(5) of the CGST Act, which enabled taxpayers to claim input tax credit in specified circumstances notwithstanding the time limit contained in Section 16(4). The petitioner contended that the returns relevant to the disputed input tax credit had been filed before the cut-off date contemplated under Section 16(5).
The Court noted that Section 16(5) provides that, in respect of invoices or debit notes pertaining to Financial Years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, a registered person would be entitled to take input tax credit in a return under Section 39 filed up to 30th November 2021, notwithstanding Section 16(4).
