Facts of the case:
- Panduranga Stone Crushers (petitioner), Vijayawada-based firm filed its GSTR -3B returns through the GST portal. It submitted GSTR-3B for the month of July 2017 to March 2018.
- Petitioner said while claiming IGST, it inadvertently and by mistake reported IGST input tax credit in a column related to ‘import of goods and services’, instead of placing that particular amount viz., IGST input tax credit in ‘all other ITC’ column.
- The petitioner contended that as per Section 39 (relating to Furnishing of Returns) of the GST Act 2017 or relevant rules there is no to rectify the mistake in GSTR -3B.
- Hence, he approached the High Court with a plea to permit it to manually rectify GSTR-3B statements.
- However, the Government counsel argued, the Petitioner had an opportunity under the proviso to said provision to rectify the omission, but since the Petitioner did not avail the chance to rectify or modify the returns, hence, he is not entitled to any relief now.
Issue Involved:
Whether the mistake was done in Form GSTR-3B can be rectified?
Provisions and Interpretation of Law:
- The Hon’ble Andhra Pradesh High Court having been satisfied that the Petitioner has made prima facie case and the issue raised requires detailed examination, granted interim order.
- Hence, the Petitioner is permitted to manually rectify GSTR-3B returns for the months of August and December 2017 & January and February 2018 (Months in which error occurred), subject to the outcome of the writ petition.
- However, it was made clear that if the Petitioner submits rectified returns for the above purpose, the department shall process the same in accordance with the procedure established by law.
Conclusion:
The Court permitted the petitioner to rectify GSTR-3B statements for the sought period.
Also, the Andhra Pradesh High Court has ruled that the GST Return (GSTR) Form that is GSTR-3B is a statement and a revision option should be provided.
Once implemented at the national level, it will be a big relief for a large number of GST assesses. Although such revision opportunity shall not be provided to those who had opted for the composition scheme.