The Tribunal directed refund of the original IGST payment that was correctly paid on exports but inadvertently entered in the wrong column of GSTR-3B, preventing automatic processing through Customs EDI.
The GSTAT Thiruvananthapuram Bench has allowed three appeals by Associated Cashews, an exporter of cashew kernels, and directed refund of IGST totalling ₹19,79,405 paid on export supplies during November 2018, December 2018, and February 2019 that remained unrefunded due to a GSTR-3B reporting error. [Associated Cashews v. Commissioner of CGST, Thiruvananthapuram]
Vice President Subramanya Rayaprol and Member (Technical) Ramamoorthi Sriram noted that the appellant had correctly filed shipping bills, export invoices, and GSTR-1 returns but inadvertently entered the export turnover and IGST in Table 3.1(a) of GSTR-3B (for domestic outward supplies) instead of Table 3.1(b) (for zero-rated supplies). This prevented the automatic refund processing through the Customs EDI system.
To rectify the position, the appellant paid the same IGST amount again in August 2019 — this time correctly reported in Table 3.1(b) — and received a refund of this second payment through the Customs automatic mode. However, the original IGST payment remained unrefunded, and the refund applications filed for the original amounts were rejected.
The First Appellate Authority had dismissed the appeals by incorrectly treating the refund received on the August 2019 payment as covering the original claim. The Tribunal found this reasoning erroneous, as the two payments were distinct and the original IGST remained an excess payment that warranted refund.
2026-juristway.com-3037-GSTAT(Thiruvananthapuram)-GST | GSTAT Thiruvananthapuram | APL/52, 53, 54/TVP/2026 | 16.10.2026
