CBIC orders special drive for processing pending refund/ drawback claims from May 15-31

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) will conduct a special drive to dispose of pending refunds and drawback claims from May 15 till May 31, in order to provide immediate relief to industry especially MSMEs during the pandemic.

The Board issued instructions to all field units of customs and central tax on May 13, to prioritise processing and disposal of all pending refund and drawback claims as on May 14.

“The Board has decided that there is a need to focus on timely disposal of all pending refund/duty drawback claims in order to provide immediate relief to the business entities, especially MSMEs, in these difficult times,” it said.

CBIC had undertaken a similar special drive in April 2020 to provide liquidity to industry during COVID-19.

In instructions issued, the Board also specified that the special drive be coordinated with major trade and industry associations, especially exporters, since submission of required documents will be needed from members.

“For facilitation of exporters, all communication should be done over email, wherever email id of the applicant is available,” the Board said, adding that all deficiency memos may be reviewed and refund or drawback may be considered on merit.

Experts said that the move will surely help industry but added that a similar drive should be conducted for pending claims under goods and service tax (GST) regime.

“Industry would be greatly benefitted by similar drives arranged by GST commissionerate for processing of any other pending refund claim, which includes refund of input tax credit on export, refund of excess taxes paid, refund of inverted duty structure, and many more,” said Rajat Mohan, senior partner at AMRG Associates.