Govt notices to firms for 'wrongly' claiming transitional credit under GST

BR Agro, Star Ind, Ritz Polymers, Gravita Metals, Chenab Textiles and Bharat Udyog have received notices

The government has sent notices to companies for “wrongly” claiming  transitional credit under GST, a move contested by these entities. Under the pre-GST regime, companies had personal ledger accounts (PLAs) to pay their excise duties. Under GST, they do not require PLAs. They have, instead, transferred their credits in PLAs to TRANS-1, a form for staking claims for taxes paid on pre-GST stock or what is termed transitional credit.

Taking objection to that, indirect tax officials have sent notices to companies such as BR Agro, Chenab Textiles, Star Industries, Ritz Polymers, Gravita Metals and Bharat Udyog.

Abhishek Rastogi, partner at Khaitan & Co, said the balance in a PLA represents the company’s resources and it ought to be allowed to get transferred to TRANS-1. “We will challenge these notices in court, as it is in the right of the companies to claim the amount. As there were no specific provisions, the accrued right cannot be denied,” he said. 

The notices say only CENVAT credit is allowed under TRANS-1. “However, the TRANS-1 filled by you pertains to not only the balance amount in CENVAT credit but also that of the PLA balance lying with you,” says one of the notices. Therefore, the transfer of PLA balance is in violation of the Central GST Act, by mis-stating it as CENVAT credit.