GST refund: CBIC clears Rs 11,052 crore claims

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) said it has sanctioned GST refund claims worth Rs 11,052 crore in 47 days. The tax authorities informed this on their Twitter handle.

In a tweet, the CBIC said it is "committed to ensuring liquidity to GST taxpayers especially MSME sectors during the lockdown".

Refunds have been sanctioned while ensuring work from home, it added. The finance ministry had on April 8 said that to provide relief during COVID-19 it has been decided to issue all pending GST and custom refunds which would benefit around 1 lakh business entities, including MSME.

The total refund granted will be approximately Rs 18,000 crore, it had said. The CBIC had earlier asked its field officers to avoid asking for physical submission of documents from entities who are claiming GST and Customs refunds and instead use official email for all communication.

The CBIC had said that the decision to process pending refund claims has been taken with a view to provide immediate relief to the taxpayers in these difficult times even though the GST Law provides 15 days for issuing acknowledgement or deficiency memo and total 60 days for disposing off refund claims without any liability to pay interest.