Revenue Department cannot retain any amount that has been erroneously paid as tax

Varshan Enterprises Vs Office of the GST Council (Andhra Pradesh High Court)

Rule 97A permits manual application for refund of GST paid wrongly

The Hon’ble Andhra Pradesh High Court in M/s. Varshan Enterprises v. Office of the GST Council [Writ Petition No.10637 of 2021, dated December 12, 2022] held that the Revenue Department cannot retain any amount that has been paid as tax as a result of any inadvertent error and the error committed by the assessee being accidental shall have the opportunity to rectify it.

Facts:

M/s. Varshan Enterprises (“the Petitioner”) is involved in the business supplying telecom pipe-laying services in Telangana and had provided its services to M/s Vodafone Mobile Services Limited with office located in Telangana (“Vodafone, Telangana”). M/s Vodafone Mobile Services Limited also has an office in Mumbai, Maharashtra (“Vodafone, Mumbai”). The Petitioner erroneously issued two tax invoices in June, 2018 to Vodafone, Mumbai instead of Vodafone, Telangana, by entering the GSTIN of Vodafone, Mumbai, while entering the details and returns information on the GST common portal. Due to such error, Vodafone, Telangana was unable to claim the Input Tax Credit (“ITC”) on the IGST paid by the Petitioner.

Please become a Premium member. If you are already a Premium member, login here to access the full content.