Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has come up with various crucial amendments by introducing Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021, vide notification no. 15/2021- Central Tax dated 18^th May 2021. The new rule shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette. The present article briefly covers all the amendments.

Synopsis of Notification

The rules have amended provisions of the following rules of Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017-

Rule 23 – Revocation of cancellation of GST registration.
Rule 90 – Procedure to Get GST Refund (Acknowledgment)
Rule 92 – Order sanctioning GST refund
Rule 96 – Refund of IGST Paid for Exporters

Revocation of Cancellation of GST registration – Amendment in Rule 23 of CGST

Rule 23 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 deals with the process of Revocation of GST Registration Cancellation. Rule 23 (1) is amended via Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021 to bring the rules in line with the amendment made in Section 30 of the CGST Act which allows the time period for filing revocation application to be extended. The gist of new rule 23 (1) is explained hereunder:

Revocation Procedure

Any registered taxable person can apply for revocation of cancellation of GST registration and application in FORM GST REG-21 needs to be filed by the registered person, for revocation of GST registration, either directly or through a facilitation center notified by the Commissioner.

It must be noted that the application for revocation can be done only during the circumstances when the registration has been canceled by the proper officer on his own motion.
Revocation cannot be used when GST registration was canceled voluntarily by a taxpayer.

Time Limit for Revocation

Any registered taxable person can apply for revocation of cancellation of GST registration within a period of 30 days from the date of service of the order of cancellation of GST registration.

Revised Time Limit for Revocation

As per the Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021, the FORM GST REG-21 application for revocation of cancellation of GST registration (within a period of 30 days from date of service of the order of cancellation or ‘’within such time period as extended by the Additional Commissioner or the Joint Commissioner or the Commissioner’’ Know more about Revocation of GST Registration Cancellation

Procedure to Get GST Refund – Amendment in Rule 90 of CGST

Rule 90 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 deals with the form and manner of filing applications for getting GST Refund. Rule 90 (3) is amended via Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021, and new rules 90 (5) and 90 (6) are inserted.

GST Refund

GST refund applies to any taxpayer upon making extra GST payment in the form of tax, interest, penalty, fees, or any others. For the refund process, the taxpayer shall apply through FORM GST RFD-01, as prescribed. To file FORM GST RFD-01, the individual can log in to GST Common Portal, GST Facilitation Centre, or a registered organization.

GST Refund Process

The taxpayer must file all GST refund applications online in a FORM GST RFD-01 form on the GST Common Portal.
The person shall also file returns every month for claiming a refund amount in the credit balance. On filing a refund application, an acknowledgment for a refund application would be provided within 14 days of the refund application is acceptable.
On receiving the refund request, the concerned Officer would have to convey the status of the application within 14 days.
If there are any deficiencies in the application, the GST refund request in FORM GST RFD-03 would be sent back to the applicant along with the list of deficiencies and the applicant can refile the application.

If there are no errors or deficiencies, the GST refund claims, if in the order must be sanctioned within a period of 60 days from the date of receipt of the claim. Officers are also not allowed to issue deficiencies memo after the 14 day period when there are required to process the GST refund application.

Revised GST Refund Process

The revised GST refund process proposed under the Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021 is as follows:

The Revised Rule 90 (3) of CGST Rules:

According to Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021, the time period, from the date of filing of the refund claim in FORM GST RFD-01 till the date of communication of the deficiencies in FORM GST RFD-03 by the proper officer, shall be excluded from the period of two years as specified under sub-section (1) of Section 54, in respect of any such fresh refund claim filed by the applicant after rectification of the deficiencies.

New Rule 90 (5) of CGST Rules

The applicant may, at any time before issuance of provisional refund sanction order in FORM GST RFD-04 or final refund sanction order in FORM GST RFD-06 or payment order in FORM GST RFD-05 or refund withhold order in FORM GST RFD-07 or notice in FORM GST RFD-08, in respect of any refund application filed in FORM GST RFD-01, withdraw the said application for refund by applying FORM GST RFD-01W. The new FORM GST RFD-01W introduced through the Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021 is attached here for reference:

New Rule 90 (6) of CGST Rules

On submission of application for withdrawal of refund in FORM GST RFD-01W, any amount debited by the applicant from electronic credit ledger or electronic cash ledger, as the case may be, while filing an application for refund in FORM GST RFD-01, shall be credited back to the ledger from which such debit was made

GST Refund Order Sanction – Amendment in Rule 92 of CGST Act

Rule 92 deals with the GST Refund Order Sanction procedure. CBIC via Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021 omitted the sub-rule one of Rule 92 of CGST Act. Another amendment proposed in these new rules is discussed below:

Revised FORM GST RFD- 07 – Withholding of Refund

Proper officer or the Commissioner thinks that the amount of refund is liable to be withheld under the provisions of section 54, he shall pass an order in Part A of FORM GST RFD07 informing him the reasons for the withholding of such refund. The proper officer or the Commissioner is satisfied that the refund is no longer liable to be withheld, he may pass an order for the release of withheld refund in Part B of FORM GST RFD- 07 Note: Earlier the commissioner will pass an order in Part A of FORM GST RFD07 informing him of the reasons for the withholding of such a refund In Form GST RFD 07, Part A being ordered for withholding refund, and PART B being ordered for the release of withheld refund. The revised FORM GST RFD- 07 –Part A and Part B is attached here for reference:

Refund of IGST Paid for Exporters

Under this method, the exporter can supply goods or services or both on payment of integrated tax and claim a refund of tax paid. Under this method, the shipping bill filed by an exporter shall be treated as an application for refund of integrated tax paid on the goods exported out of India. The applicability of the application shall apply only when the concerned individual carries out the export goods files and the application or the individual files valid returns along with the date of shipping bills or bills of export

If the refund is withheld, the proper officer of integrated tax at the Customs station shall intimate the applicant and the jurisdictional Commissioner of central tax, State tax or Union territory tax and a copy of such intimation shall be transmitted to the common portal.
Upon transmission of the intimation, the proper officer of central tax or State tax or Union territory tax, shall pass an order in Part B of FORM GST RFD-07.

According to Central Goods and Services Tax (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021, Upon transmission of the intimation, the proper officer of central tax or State tax or Union territory tax, shall pass an order in Part B of FORM GST RFD-07. The applicant becomes entitled to refund of the amount withheld and the concerned jurisdictional officer of central tax, State tax or Union territory tax shall proceed to refund the amount by passing an order in FORM GST RFD-06 after passing an order for the release of withheld refund in Part B of FORM GST RFD-07