GSTN has changed how several GST refunds are filed on the portal. The main shift: for many categories you no longer pick a "From" and "To" tax period. You claim against invoices.
1. Invoice-based filing for three categories
For these categories you go straight to Create Refund Application without choosing a period:
| Refund category | Statement for invoices |
|---|---|
| Export of services with payment of tax | Statement 2 |
| Supplies to SEZ unit/developer with payment of tax | Statement 4 |
| Deemed exports, refund claimed by the supplier | Statement 5B |
Invoices you upload are locked. They can't be amended or used in another refund claim, and are unlocked only if the refund application is withdrawn or rejected under the rules.
2. Deemed exports: refund claimed by the recipient
For "Refund by recipient of deemed export":
- applications don't have to be filed in date order, and there's no period to choose
- the "Amount Eligible for Refund" table has been redesigned. It shows your Electronic Credit Ledger balance, the ITC on the invoices you uploaded in Statement 5B, the eligible amount worked out using the order of debit in Circular No. 125/44/2019-GST, and any amount that can't be refunded because the ledger balance is too low
- the refund amount from your uploaded invoices can be reduced but not increased
3. All due returns must be filed first
Following para 6 of Circular No. 125/44/2019-GST, the portal accepts a refund application only if all GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B returns due up to that date are filed. Composition taxpayers, non-resident taxable persons and ISDs need GSTR-4 (with CMP-08), GSTR-5 or GSTR-6 instead.
QRMP taxpayers: this check at first wrongly ignored invoices filed through IFF for the first two months of a quarter, and asked quarterly filers for months they didn't need. GSTN acknowledged the problem and corrected the check.
What you should do
- File every due return before starting a refund.
- Pick invoices carefully, since they are locked once used.
- For deemed exports, check the eligible amount against your ledger balance before you submit.
