Through its vide, Circular No. 125/44/2019-GST issued on 18th November 2019, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has provided instructions to claim a refund under Goods and Services Tax (GST) laws. Many processes have been made online through this circular such as online GST Registration process, GST Return filing, etc. It has mandated the GST Refund application through online mode in Form GST RFD-01. The circular has also clarified the situation on GST Refunds to be provided to the taxpayers having temporary GST Registration.
GST Refund through the temporary GST registration:
Rule 16 of the CGST Rules, 2017 provides the provisions related to the temporary GST registration and states the following-
“Suo-moto registration-(1) Where, according to any survey, inquiry, inspection, search or any other proceedings under the Act, the proper officer finds that a person liable to registration under the Act has failed to apply for such registration, such officer may register the said person temporarily and issue an order in FORM GST REG12.
(2) The registration granted under sub-rule (1) shall be effective from the date of such order granting registration.
(3) Every person to whom a temporary registration has been granted under sub-rule (1) shall, within ninety days from the date of the grant of such temporary GST registration, submit an application for registration in the form and manner provided in rule 8 or rule 12:
Provided that where the said person has filed an appeal against the grant of temporary registration, in such case, the application for registration shall be submitted within thirty days from the date of the issuance of the order upholding the liability to registration by the Appellate Authority.
(4) The provisions of rule 9 and rule 10 relating to verification and the issue of the certificate of registration shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to an application submitted under sub-rule (3).
(5) The Goods and Services Tax Identification Number assigned, according to the verification under sub-rule (4), shall be effective from the date of the order granting registration under sub-rule (1).”
The Rule 16 stated above has specified the time limit within which a person having a temporary GST Registration can apply for permanent registration and obtain one. The applicant is allowed to claim refund keeping in mind the various situations for GST Refund Claim. The rule only applies to all the individuals that are liable or eligible to have GST Registration under the CGST Act even if it is temporary.
To seek a refund for the amount deposited by a person with temporary GST Registration, the individual has to file the refund application online on the GST Portal as per the CBIC Master Circular mentioned above. But with the temporary GST Registration, they won’t be allowed to proceed with the application of the GST Refund until and unless the details of the authorized signatory are not uploaded by the applicant. However, it must be noted that the person does not get any option to convert the temporary GST registration to permanent through this application mode as Rule 16 does not provide any provision or law for permanent registration from a temporary one.
