Section 55 of GST – Refund in certain cases. All Details for GST Section 55 In this section you may find all details for Refund in certain cases as per GST Act 2017.
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Section 55 of GST – Refund in certain cases
The Government may, on the recommendation of the Council, by notification, specify any specialized agency of the United Nations Organization or any Multilateral Financial Institution and Organization notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947, Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries and any other person or class of persons as may be specified in this behalf, who shall, subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed, be entitled to claim a refund of taxes paid on the notified supplies of goods or services or both received by them.
Related Provisions of the Statute
| Section or Rule | Description |
| Section 54 | Refund of Tax |
| Rule 92 | Order sanctioning refund |
Analysis and Updates
Introduction
This section deals with refund of taxes paid on notified supplies of goods or services or both received by certain specified agencies notified by the Government on the recommendation of the Council.
Analysis
This section provides that –
(i) The Government, is vested with powers to notify certain agencies on the recommendation of the Council, to be entitled to claim refund.
(ii) The agencies that can be notified are –
- (a) any specialized agency of the United Nations Organization or
- (b) any Multilateral Financial Institution and Organization notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947,
- (c) any other person or class of persons as may be specified.
(iii) In addition to the above, Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries would also be eligible for refund.
(iv) The agencies mentioned above would be entitled to claim a refund of taxes paid on the notified supplies of goods or services or both received by them. The refund claim is subject to such conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed,
Procedure for refund of tax
The Government vide Circular No. 36/10/2018-GST dated 13.03.2018, Circular No. 43/17/2018-GST dated 13.04.2018, Circular No 60/34/2018 dated 04-09-2018 and Circular No. 63/37/2018-GST dated 14-09-2018 has clarified some of the issues to ensure uniformity which are as under:
(a) The FORM GSTR-11 along with FORM GST RFD-10 has to be filed separately for each of those quarters for which refund claim is being filed.
(b) All the entities claiming refund shall submit the duly filled in print out of FORM RFD-10 to the jurisdictional Central Tax Commissionerate. All refund claims shall be processed and sanctioned by respective Central Tax offices. In order to facilitate processing of refund claims of UIN entities, a nodal officer has been designated in each State. Application for refund claim may be submitted before the designated Central Tax nodal officers in the State in which the UIN has been obtained.
(c) The print version of FORM GSTR-11 generated by the system does not have invoicewise details. Therefore, it is clarified that till the system generated FORM GSTR-11 does not have invoice-level details, UIN agencies are requested to manually furnish a statement containing the details of all the invoices on which refund has been claimed, along with refund application.
(d) The recording of UIN on the invoice is a necessary condition under rule 46 of the CGST Rules, 2017. If suppliers / vendors are not recording the UINs, action may be initiated against them under the provisions of the CGST Act, 2017.
(e) Refunds can be claimed by UIN entities only or those inward supplies which are in accordance with reciprocity letter issued by MEA.
(f) UIN entities should submit hard copies of invoices where UIN is not mentioned. Onetime waiver is hereby given from recording the UIN on the invoices issued by the suppliers pertaining to the refund claims filed for the quarters from April, 2018 to March, 2019, subject to the condition that the copies of such invoices which are attested by the authorized representative of the UIN entity shall be submitted to the jurisdictional officer
(g) UIN entities must submit the copy of the ‘Prior Permission letter’ and mention the same in the covering letter while applying for GST refund on purchase of vehicles.
(h) The eligibility of refund for the personnel and officials posted in the Embassy/Mission/Consulate shall be determined based on the principle of reciprocity.UIN entities should give declaration as per Notifications No. 13/2017 – Integrated Tax (Rate), 16/2017-Central Tax (Rate) and No. 16/2017 – Union Territory tax (Rate) all dated 28th June, 2017 and corresponding notifications under the respective State Goods and Services Tax Acts.
(i) The CSD are required to apply for refund on a quarterly basis. Till the time the online utility for filing the refund claim is made available on the common portal, the CSD shall apply for refund by filing an application in FORM GST RFD-10A (Annexure-A to this Circular) manually to the jurisdictional tax office. The said form shall be accompanied with the following documents:
- (i) An undertaking stating that the goods on which refund is being claimed have been received by the CSD;
- (ii) A declaration stating that no refund has been claimed earlier against the invoices on which the refund is being claimed;
- (iii) Copies of the valid return filed in FORM GSTR-3B by the CSD for the period covered in the refund claim;
- (iv) Copies of FORM GSTR-2A of the CSD for the period covered in the refund claim along with the attested hard copies of the invoices on which refund is claimed but which are not reflected in FORM GSTR-2A;
- (v) Details of the bank account in which the refund amount is to be credited. The procedure for issue of acknowledgment in RFD-02 and deficiency memo in RFD-03 is same as in case of other refunds. The amount of sanctioned refund in respect of central tax/integrated tax along with the bank account details of the CSD shall be manually submitted in the PFMS system by the jurisdictional Division’s DDO and a signed copy of the sanction order shall be sent to the PAO for release of the said amount.
Note: In terms of Notification No. 55/2017 – Central Tax dated 15th November 2017, Rule 97A has been inserted in the Central Goods and Service Tax Rules, 2017. In terms of Rule 97A, refunds may be permitted to be filed manually and the processing of refund with respect to any notice, reply or order, among others, can also be issued / filed manually.
Frequently Asked Questions
Name the agencies that can be notified to be eligible to claim refund of taxes under Section 55 of the CGST Act?
Any specialized agency of the United Nations Organization or any Multilateral Financial Institution and Organization notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947 and any other person or class of persons as may be specified in this behalf, are the agencies that can be notified.
What refund are the agencies specified above entitled to claim under this section?
The agencies specified above are entitled to claim a refund of taxes paid on the notified supplies of goods or services or both received by them.
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