Tax Paid Under Wrong Head (CGST/SGST Instead of IGST) Due to Clerical Error: No Interest Payable, Amount to Be Appropriated Towards Correct Liability — Madras HC Extends Section 77 Principle

The Madras High Court has directed the respondent to appropriate an amount of Rs. 8,90,892 inadvertently paid under the CGST and SGST heads towards the petitioner’s IGST liability, holding that when the petitioner had discharged the entire tax liability within the prescribed period and the error was merely a clerical mistake in selecting the wrong column in GSTR-3B, the petitioner cannot be penalised by being directed to first pay taxes again and thereafter seek a refund. The ruling by Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy in WP No. 27570/2026 (Ind Tech Lifts, decided 31.08.2026) extends the principle incorporated in Section 77 of the GST Act — which provides that no interest is payable when tax is paid under the wrong head — to cases of clerical errors in column selection, following the court’s own earlier ruling in SYA Homes.

The court noted that Section 77 specifically addresses a situation where CGST/SGST is paid erroneously under the misconception that the supply is intra-State, but the present situation (pure clerical error in GSTR-3B column) is not expressly envisaged in the statute. Nevertheless, the underlying principle that the taxpayer should not be penalised when necessary taxes have been remitted within time applies with equal force.

- 2026-juristway.com-2638-HC(Madras)-GST  |  High Court of Madras  |  WP No. 27570 of 2026  |  31.08.2026