The Madras High Court in the case of Tvl. Thendral Electricals v. Commissioner of Commercial Taxes vide W.P(MD)No.6459 of 2024 W.M.P(MD)No.6040 of 2024 dated 28.08.2024, has given a chance to the petitioner to rectify the clerical error occurred while filing monthly return GSTR-3B, by filing a rectification petition u/s 161 of the TNGST Act, 2017, which deals with the rectification of errors apparent on the face of the record. The error was made by way of entering the eligible Input Tax Credit under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax in columns designated for Central Tax and State Tax in the GSTR-3B return.

Facts of the Case:  The petitioner claimed an Input Tax Credit (ITC) under the Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST). The ITC was reflected in Form GSTR-2A, based on the details submitted by the petitioner’s suppliers. While filing the monthly GSTR-3B return, the petitioner erroneously entered the ITC in the columns designated for Central Tax and State Tax instead of the IGST column. This resulted in a discrepancy between the claimed ITC and the actual filing.

The impugned order denied the petitioner’s ITC claim on the basis of this clerical error, suggesting that the petitioner was not entitled to claim the IGST credit due to the incorrect categorization in the return.

Present writ petition challenges the impugned order under Section 73, on the ground of an error apparent on the face of the record.

The Petitioner contended that mistake was purely clerical in nature and did not affect the substance of the petitioner’s eligibility for the ITC. Denial of the ITC due to this minor error was, therefore, unjustified.

Held: The Court granted the petitioner the liberty to file a rectification petition under Section 161 of the TNGST Act within two weeks of receiving the court’s order. If the petitioner files the rectification petition within the stipulated period, the respondent is required to pass orders in accordance with the law, after providing the petitioner an opportunity for a hearing. If the petitioner fails to file the rectification petition within the specified timeframe, the impugned order would be revived.

To read the complete judgment 2024 Taxo.online 2208