Mechanism for Filing of Refund Claim by the Taxpayers Registered in Erstwhile Union Territory of Daman & Diu for Period Prior to Merger with U.T. of Dadra & Nagar Haveli

· FORM GSTR 3B filed for the new GSTIN

[Circular No. 168/24/2021 – GST dated 30 December 2021]

Subject: Mechanism for filing of refund claim by the taxpayers registered in erstwhile Union Territory of Daman & Diu for period prior to merger with U.T. of Dadra & Nagar Haveli.

New GSTINs with UT Code 26 were created for the taxpayers of erstwhile UT of Daman and Diu w.e.f 1st August, 2020 on merger of the UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and UT of Daman & Diu. During the transition, the taxpayers have transferred their ITC balance from their electronic credit ledger of the old GSTIN (by reversing the balance amount available in electronic credit ledger through the last return in FORM GSTR 3B filed for the old GSTIN prior to merger) to the new GSTIN (by availing the ITC for the said amount in the first return in FORM GSTR 3B filed for the new GSTIN) as per procedure specified under Notification No. 10/2020-CT dated 21.03.2020.

2 Representations have now been received from the field formations and trade/industry that due to transfer of ITC from old GSTIN to new GSTIN, the taxpayers are unable to apply for refund on account of zero-rated supplies and inverted rated structure for the period prior to merger in respect of old GSTIN as they have no ITC available in the electronic credit ledger of the old GSTIN for debiting the amount from electronic credit ledger for claiming refund of unutilised ITC. Such taxpayers are also unable to apply for such refund claim from the new GSTIN because all the invoices bear the old GSTIN and the system has certain validations which do not allow the refund application to be filed from the new GSTIN for the period prior to the merger.

3 The matter has been examined and to ensure uniformity in the implementation of the provisions of law across the field formations, the Board, in exercise of its powers conferred by section 168 (1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, hereby prescribes the following procedure in respect of the taxpayers, registered in the erstwhile UT of Daman & Diu and who are unable to file refund claim, due to merger of UT of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and UT of Daman & Diu, to enable such taxpayers to file refund claim for the period prior to merger:

i. The application for refund shall be filed under ‘Any other’ category on the GST portal using their new GSTIN. In the Remarks column of the application, the applicant needs to enter the category in which the refund application otherwise would have been filed. For example, if the applicant wants to claim refund of unutilised ITC on account of export of goods/services, in remarks column, he shall enter ‘Refund of unutilised ITC on account of export of goods/services without payment of tax for the period prior to merger of Daman & Diu with Dadra & Nagar Haveli’. The application shall be accompanied by all the supporting documents which otherwise are required to be submitted with the refund claim.

ii. At this stage, the applicant is not required to make any debit from the electronic credit ledger.

iii. On receipt of the claim, the proper officer shall calculate the admissible refund amount as per law. Further, upon scrutiny of the application for completeness and eligibility, if the proper officer is satisfied that the whole or any part of the amount claimed is payable as refund, he shall request the applicant, in writing, if required, to debit the said amount from the electronic credit ledger through FORM GST DRC-03. Once the proof of such debit is received by the proper officer, he shall proceed to issue the refund order in FORM GST RFD-06 and the payment order in FORM GST RFD-05.

iv. For the categories of refund where debit of ITC is not required, the applicant may apply for refund under the category “Any other” mentioning the reasons in the Remarks column. Such application shall also be accompanied by all the supporting documents which are otherwise required to be submitted along with the refund claim.

4. No refund claim, requiring debit from the electronic credit ledger or where the refund would result in re-credit of the amount sanctioned in the electronic credit ledger, shall be filed using old GSTIN.

5. It is requested that suitable trade notices may be issued to publicize the contents of this circular. Difficulty, if any, in implementation of the above instructions may please be brought to the notice of the Board.

F.No. CBIC – 20021/04/2021– GST