HC notice to govt, GST Council over refunds

The Gujarat High Court has issued notices to the union government and the GST Council over the alleged breach of refund norms by field officers under the goods and services tax (GST) regime.

Under the Rule 92 of the Central GST (CGST) Act, the claim of the refund has to be made in the RFD 04 form. Thereafter, the officer concerned can accept or reject the claim after his investigations.

If the claim is accepted, he would issue refund in the form RFD 06. In case the refund is required to be adjusted, the officer would withhold it in the form RFD 07. If the refund is not admissible, partly or wholly, this would be communicated through the form RFD 08.

If the amount is rejected, it would be credited to the government account under the Rule 93 of the CGST Act, but for that, due process of RFD forms has to be followed.

A petitioner moved the high court, saying the field officer concerned rejected his claim of refunds without resorting to RFD forms. He reversed it under the Rule 93, which, he argued, could not be done without following the due process.

Abhishek Rastogi, counselor of the petitioner and partner at Khaitan & Co, said many petitioners were keen to move the court over the lapses. “The law provides that the denial of the refund has to happen only after compliance with the procedure laid down. We have challenged the rejection order, which has not followed the due process of law,” he said.