Sunil Kumar Poddar vs The Additional Commissioner (Appeal), Siliguri

The case at hand revolved around a petitioner’s plea for a refund of Input Tax Credit (ITC) that had been declined due to the absence of uploaded shipping bill details during the refund application process. Despite possessing all pertinent shipping information, the petitioner failed to upload these details due to a misunderstanding of the relevant legal requirements. Upon realizing the error, efforts were made to rectify it by amending the GST Return-1 (GSTR-1) to include the necessary shipping details, albeit unsuccessfully due to portal restrictions.

The court recognized the petitioner’s predicament stemming from their inability to upload shipping bill details initially and the subsequent denial of amendment to the GSTR-1 to rectify this lapse. Notably, the petitioner had presented hardcopies of the shipping bills during the appeals process, which, however, were not duly considered by the appellate authority.

In scrutinizing the matter, the court underscored that withholding the shipping bills served no purpose beneficial to the petitioner and advocated for legal provisions allowing for the rectification of inadvertent errors. Criticism was leveled at the inflexible stance adopted by the respondent (tax authorities), who contended that the electronic nature of the system precluded manual incorporation of the petitioner’s shipping details at the juncture in question. The court stressed the importance of granting authorities discretion to address such situations, particularly when a taxpayer legitimately seeks entitlement to benefits.

Consequently, the Calcutta High Court mandated the respondent to reconsider the hardcopies of shipping bills tendered by the petitioner concerning the refund claim for accumulated ITC attributable to zero-rated supply. This directive signified a recognition of the petitioner’s efforts to comply with legal requirements and sought to ensure fairness in the adjudication process regarding tax refunds.

1. The petitioner made zero rated supply of goods and seeks refund of the unutilized accumulated Input Tax Credit. He filed Form GST RFD-01 but his prayer stood rejected on the ground that the petitioner failed to upload the shipping details. The appeal preferred before the Additional Commissioner of CGST & CX, Siliguri
Appeal Commissionerate also stood rejected vide order dated March 23, 2023

2. The petitioner is aggrieved by the same. The petitioner has annexed in the writ petition the shipping bills of which he claims refund. As the bills could not be uploaded in the official portal, his claim for refund has been negated. 

3. The appellate authority has relied upon the Circular No. 125/44/2019 dated November 18, 2019 wherein it has been clearly mentioned that in case of refund claim on account of export of goods without payment of tax, the shipping bill details shall be checked by the proper officer through ICEGATE SITE wherein the officer will be able to check details of EGM and shipping bill by keying in port name, shipping bill number and date.

4. In the said Circular it has been advised that while processing the refund claims, information contained in Table 9 of Form GSTR-1 of the relevant tax period as well as that of the subsequent tax periods should also be taken into cognizance, wherever applicable. 

5. The petitioner has in his grounds of appeal before the appellate authority mentioned that due to wrong appreciation of the provision of law, the shipping details could not be uploaded at the time of seeking refund. Admittedly, the shipping bills were forwarded and annexed at the time of preferring the appeal.