The Kerala High Court has allowed the benefit of GST Input Tax Credit (ITC) where tax returns were filed within the statutory cut-off date.
In this case, a construction company called M/s Core Constructions, which is registered to pay these taxes, challenged a decision made about its tax claims. The company was unhappy because its request for tax credits for several months between November 2018 and March 2019 was denied by the tax department. The court’s ruling may help the company get the credits that it believes it deserves.
Because of the failure of the applicant to submit the returns within the statutory time limit prescribed under Section 16(4) of the CGST Act, 2017, the ITC was refused.
Section 16(5) of the CGST Act, 2017 furnishes a non obstante relaxation to the restriction specified u/s 16(4) by allowing registered persons to claim the ITC for the invoices or debit notes related to the financial years 2017-18 to 2020-21, given that this credit is opted in any return submitted u/s 39 of the CGST Act up to 30 November 2021.
The same provision was inserted to lengthen the relief for late ITC claims in the initial years of the GST implementation.
The provision functions retrospectively and verifies eligible ITC that shall otherwise have been unauthorised only on the grounds of the limitation of time u/s 16(4). It confirms that the ITC for the said fiscal years is not refused where the regulatory norms are fulfilled within the extended timeline, hence furnishing relief to taxpayers while keeping compliance with the return filing procedure under the CGST structure.
The applicant claims, while raising the challenge against the assessment order, under section 16(5) of the CGST Act, the applicant is qualified to receive the ITC as the specified provision particularly provides that, if the taxpayer is filing the returns within the cut-off date contemplated therein, namely, 30.11.2021, the same taxpayer shall be qualified to get the ITC.
The Court of Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A said that “In this case, it is evident from the order of assessment itself that the petitioner had submitted the returns for the relevant months. Thus, it is clear that the petitioner had submitted the returns within the cut-off date contemplated under Section 16(5) of the CGST Act and thus, is entitled to the benefit of input tax credit for the relevant period.”
Read Also: How GST Software Handles Input Tax Credit (ITC) Tracking
The Court said that the case should be reconsidered, and the writ petition was disposed of by overturning the assessment order and asking the State Tax Officer to reconsider the case and grant the advantage of ITC u/s 16(5) of the CGST Act, 2017.
| Case Title | M/S JVG Technology Private Limited vs Commissioner CGST |
| Case No. | 7974 OF 2026 |
| For Petitioner | Anil Kumar |
| For Respondent | Arun Ajay Shankar |
| Kerala High Court | Read Order |
