CESTAT rules on refund claims filed within a year under the Customs Act

CESTAT rules on refund claims filed within a year under the Customs Act

The appeal was filed after the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals) upheld the erroneous order

The Ahmedabad bench of the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that a refund claim is not hit by limitation when filed within a year of the relevant date under the Customs Act, 1962.

The appellant, Variety Lumbers Private Limited paid a 4 percent Special Additional Duty (SAD) on the importation of timber round logs. Later, it filed a refund claim based on the exemption allowed under the Customs Act.

The notification stipulates that an importer can file a refund claim of SAD with the customs officer before the expiry of one year from the date of the payment of SAD.

It was alleged that the appellant filed the refund claim after a year. Hence, the claim was hit by limitation. A show-cause notice was issued to the appellant rejecting the refund claim.

Aggrieved by the order, the appellant appealed before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals), who upheld the order. Unhappy with the outcome, the appellant approached CESTAT.

The appellant submitted that the Customs Act provided that the one-year limitation period would be computed from the date of the judgment/decree/order or direction in a case where the duty was refundable because of the judgment/decree/order.

The Supreme Court decided the issue and the appellant preferred a refund claim in January 2019. It was within the limitation period.

A division bench of CESTAT comprising Ramesh Nair (judicial member) and Raju (technical member) held, "Accordingly, in this case, the relevant date shall be the date of the apex court decision i.e. 24.04.2018. The appellant filed the refund claim within one year from the date of the Supreme Court judgment."