₹10,000 crore of GST refunds sanctioned: Govt.

‘Inadequate familiarisation with tax laws plaguing claims’

G S T concept with New Indian Currency - 3D Rendering Image

The government on Friday sought to debunk reports carrying unverified estimates of pending GST refunds, terming these figures “highly speculative and mostly inaccurate.”

So far, the government said, ₹10,000 crore of refunds had been sanctioned by the Central Board of Excise and Customs and the States, although it did not mention the quantum of the remaining amount.

‘Unverified estimates’

“It has been noticed that at regular intervals, unverified estimates of pending GST refunds on account of exports are published in the print media or put forward by various trade bodies,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. “These figures are highly speculative and mostly inaccurate.”

“It is a fact that while a number of exporters have not been able to get the export refunds, so far others have been granted refunds,” it added.

“In order to overcome the causes of the delay in sanctioning of refunds, government has taken various steps, which includes amendments in the rules, changes in the business procedures of common portal and customs automated system to address the systemic issues.”

The statement said that many of the errors plaguing the claims for refunds were due to the “inadequate familiarisation of the exporters with the GST laws and data entry errors in the various GSTRs/forms.”

“A standard operating procedure applicable to both Central and State GST has been put in place by virtue of various circulars and clarifications issued with regard to processing of ITC refund.”