The government is looking at automating goods and services tax refunds, on the lines of the income-tax system, as part of the next stage of reforms being conceptualised under GST 3.0, a senior tax official said.
"We are hoping that maybe like income tax, we will also make refunds automated. So, it's there in our mind," said Shashank Priya, member (GST), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
"We will have consultations and adequate safeguards have to be put in place. There is a lot of positive energy in the government to take our reforms agenda forward and make systems simpler," he added.
The government under GST 2.0 allowed provisional sanction of 90 per cent of refund claims filed under the inverted duty structure (wherein tax on inputs is more than output) for applications submitted on or after October 1, 2025.
As an interim measure, the provisional refund process will mirror the mechanism currently followed for zero-rated supplies, with the system leveraging risk identification and evaluation tools to fast-track low-risk claims and reduce manual intervention.
According to experts, apart from exports and inverted duty structure, refund claims also arise in cases where tax has been erroneously paid. For instance, they occur when an inter-state supply is wrongly treated as intra-state or vice versa, or when excess tax is paid due to clerical errors.
Refunds are also sought for amounts paid during investigation, audit or as pre-deposit at the time of appeal, when no liability is eventually established.
-- Monika Yadav, Business Standard
© 2025 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances
