Whether ITC can be denied in case of bonafide errors in filing GST returns where there is no loss of revenue?

No, the Honorable Bombay High Court in the case of NRB Bearings ltd. v. Commissioner of State Tax [Writ Petition No. 10771 of 2023 dated 14.02.2024], allowed the petition while permitting the Taxpayer to rectify FORM GSTR-1 and held that in cases of bonafide errors in filing returns where no loss of revenue occurs, the technicalities should not prevent rectification.

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The Honorable Bombay High Court relied on M/s. Star Engineers (I) Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India & Ors. [Writ Petition No. 15368 of 2023 dated 14.12.2023], wherein the court observed that in cases where there was a bonafide error in the filing of return and when there was no loss of revenue caused to the Government/ exchequer, the technicalities on any legitimate rectification ought not to come in the way of the Taxpayer, so as to suffer an inadvertent error, which would have a cascading effect.

Author’s Comments:

This judgment comes to the rescue of bonafide taxpayers to allow them to rectify their GSTR-1 and will allow recipients to settle ongoing litigation.

A similar judgment was delivered by the Honorable Orissa High Court in M/s. Y. B. Constructions Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India and Others [W.P.(C) No. 12232 of 2021 dated 22.02.2023], wherein it was permitted to the taxpayer to rectify the error of mentioning B2C instead of B2B in Form GSTR-1 at the time of fling of returns, holding that the Taxpayer would be prejudiced if it not allowed to avail the benefits of ITC.

In a similar matter, the Honorable Orissa High Court in M/s. Shiva Jyoti Construction v. The Chairperson, Central Board of Excise & Customs and other [W.P. (C) No.18216 of 2017 dated 12.01.2023] had permitted the assessee to rectify its Form GSTR-1 filed.

Further, the Honorable Karnataka High Court in M/s. Wipro Limited India v. the Assistant Commissioner of Central Taxes and Ors. [Writ Petition No. 16175 of 2022 (T-Res) dated 06.01.2023] had allowed the assessee to rectify the errors committed at the time of filing of Forms and submitting GST Returns for FY 2017-2020.

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