CESTAT holds that the Limitation period does not apply to Personal Ledger Accounts

CESTAT holds that the Limitation period does not apply to Personal Ledger Accounts.

I find that the said decision was passed without considering the earlier decisions of this Tribunal as cited above and also the board circular was not considered in the said judgment.

The Ahmedabad Bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) comprising of Ramesh Nair (Judicial Member) held that the limitation period is not applicable to the personal ledger account.

The petition was filed for the refund for the unspent balance of the Personal Ledger Account (PLA) due to a change in the taxation regime from central excise to GST, however, the Learned Commissioner (Appeals) rejected the refund claim on the ground that the limitation under 11B is applicable according to which the claimant should have filed the refund within the one year from date of payment.

The present bench reversed the order of the Commissioner (Appeals) and was of the opinion that "in case of PLA balance, it is not deposited as a duty but it is deposited as an advance towards the duty. The PLA Amount takes the color of excise duty only when it is utilized for payment of duty on clearance of excisable goods. The unspent balance of PLA is only advance not duty therefore, Section 11B is not applicable."

Relying on the cases Navdeep Packaging Industries – 2007 (210) Elt 417 (Tri. Mumbai) Jay Shree Tea & Industries Ltd – 2005 (190) Elt 106 (Tri.- Kolkata) Bijalimoni Tea Estate – 2007 (215) Elt 63 (Tri.- Kolkata), the bench held that the limitation under Section11B is not applicable and the applicant is entitled to refund of PLA balance.