Landmark Judgment: Gujarat HC allowed rectification of GSTR-3B without payment of late fee by assessee

The court also observed that 

“Applicant shall not be saddled with the liability of payment of late fees since it has been dragged into unnecessary litigation only on account of the technicalities raised by the authorities”.

Short Overview of the case:

 The writ applicant is engaged in the business of printing of dress materials etc. While submitting the return of his business electronically on the GST Portal, the applicant inadvertently, wrongly uploaded the entries of M/s. Deepak Process instead of M/s. Deepak Print in Form GSTR-3B in the month of May, 2019.

  In this regard, the applicant made representation to the Nodal Officer and the concerned authority but no formal reply was given by them.

  The issue under consideration is that whether the writ applicant is entitled to seek rectification of Form GSTR-3B for the month of May, 2019.

  The Hon’ble Gujarat High Court placed reliance on the judgment of Bharti Airtel Ltd. v. Union of India [2020] 116 taxmann.com 416 (Delhi) pronounced by the Hon’ble Delhi High Court.

In the said judgment, the Court observed that the statutory scheme, as envisaged under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (‘CGST Act’) provided a facility for validation of monthly data through the IT System of the Government. However, GSTR-2 and GSTR-3 could not be operationalized by the government till date.

The Court, therefore, permitted rectification in GSTR-3B for the period to which error related instead of rectification being done in subsequent months.

 In view of the above judgement, Hon’ble High Court permitted the writ applicant to rectify Form GSTR-3B in respect of the relevant period.

 The Court directed the concerned authority to verify the claim of the applicant in rectified Form GSTR-3B and give effect to the same.

The Court further directed that the applicant shall not be saddled with the liability of payment of late fees since it has been dragged into unnecessary litigation only on account of the technicalities raised by the authorities.

It’s a Landmark order wherein Hon’ble Gujarat High Court heavily relied on the Judgement of Hon’ble Delhi High Court in case of Bharti Airtel Limited (Supra).

Taxpayers may note that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has stayed [2020] 122 taxmann.com 178 (SC) the above order of the Hon’ble Delhi High Court.