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The grievances, particularly of exporters, over delayed refund of accumulated input tax credit on account of CGST and SGST, may end soon. Auto-verification of documents through the GSTN (GST Network) is likely to start by end of this month.
According to Alok Chaturvedi, Director-General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), the initial deadline for automation of the GSTN was June. But, it was delayed by a month due to various reasons. He did not specify the reasons.
“By the end of July, auto-verification (of documents) through the GSTN should happen,” he said on the sidelines of an event organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) here.
Delayed refunds
The absence of auto verification, he said, led to a situation where documents had to be physically verified especially with regard to exporters claiming accumulated input tax credit against payment of CGST and SGST. Questioning and re-questioning delayed the refund process. Frequent format changes were also a problem. A variety of filing errors (by businessmen) also led to discrepancies causing an inevitable slowdown.
On the other hand, the IGST refunds by Customs were smoother.
“Apart from filing errors, a variety of questions were raised by the authorities in the case of physical verification. Some of the officials were not aware of the documents that were required. All this has now been sorted out,” the DGFT said.
Refund fortnight
Chautrvedi did not have details of total refunds due to exports. However, he said refunds worth ₹40,000 crore were settled during the special refund fortnight in June. “Most of the petty claims have already been settled,” he said. For the May-June period, GST refund dues — CGST and SGST — are likely to be about ₹2,000 crore, Chaturvedi said.
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