Assessee’s Request to Amend/Rectify Genuine Mistake in Form DRC 03 to be Allowed by Dept. | HC

Case Details: Rajesh Real Estate Developers (P.) Ltd. v. Union of India - [2024] 160 taxmann.com 297 (Bombay)

Judiciary and Counsel Details

• • G.S. Kulkarni & Firdosh P. Pooniwalla, JJ.

Facts of the Case

In the present case, the assessee was required to reverse ITC and it reversed ITC through Form DRC-03, but inadvertently mentioned year as Financial Year 2019-20 instead of financial year 2018-19. Despite submitting details and explanations for reversal along with submission of Form DRC-03, and requesting consideration of these payments for financial year 2018-19, Final Audit Report was issued to assessee, demanding payment along with interest.

The GST department acknowledged assessee’s payments but contended that payments made via Form DRC-03 were for financial year 2019-20 and refused to recognize them for financial year 2018-19. It filed writ petition since request to amend/rectify genuine mistake in Form DRC-03 was denied by department.

High Court Held

The Honorable High Court recognized the bonafide mistake made by assessee in mentioning wrong financial year. The Court also observed that the department was aware that there was no loss of revenue to Government and therefore, bona fide inadvertent errors in furnishing details need to be recognized and ought to be permitted to be corrected. Thus, the Court directed department to permit assessee to amend Form DRC-03 to reflect correct financial year.

List of Cases Reviewed

• • Star Engineers (I) Pvt. Ltd. v. Union of India and Ors. in Writ Petition No. 15368 of 2023 (para 18) followed.