NEW DELHI: The indirect tax and customs department is set to kick off a special refund and drawback disposal drive between May 15 and May 31, 2021 with the objective of priority processing and disposal of all pending refund and drawback claims of exporters.
In an internal note addressed to all the principal chief commissioners of customs and central taxes, it has been said that during the special drive all pending customs refund, IGST refund and customs duty drawback claims that are pending as on 14 May 2021 would be disposed of.
The special drive has been aimed at clearing all the dues of exporters/traders, who are facing hardship due to Covid-19 situation.The note states that the department will coordinate this Special Drive with the major trade and industry associations (especially those that cater to exporters) for their assistance including submission of required documents from their members (if a claim is pending for want of a required document).
Though the special drive has been launched to provide immediate relief to the taxpayers, there would be no laxity on due diligence. All the relevant legal provisions, notifications, circulars and instructions must be followed while processing these claims. For facilitation of exporters, all communication should be done over email, wherever email id of the applicant is available. All deficiency memos would be reviewed and refund/drawback may be considered on merit.
“This special refund drive would provide immediate benefit to numerous exporters waiting for their tax refunds from customs, including refund of duty drawbacks. The board has planned to clear the backlog of refunds in the current month only. Hope to see a similar drive being arranged for all the income taxpayers, who are currently fiddling with the tax refunds,” said Delhi-based chartered accountant Rajat Mohan
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