Refund claim of unutilized ITC on export of services cannot be rejected for non-submission of FIRC when CA certificate & other documents submitted -Ahmedabad High Court { Kuehne Plus Nagel Pvt. Ltd. V/s Union of India – (2025) 32 Centax 176 (Guj.)}
Issue:
Refund of unutilized ITC on export of services was rejected for not submitting Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC), despite submission of CA certificate confirming receipt of foreign exchange.
Facts:
Assessee, Kuehne Plus Nagel Pvt. Ltd., exported services and filed a refund claim for unutilized ITC. The refund was rejected by the department solely because the assessee did not submit the Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC), though it had submitted a Chartered Accountant’s certificate confirming receipt of foreign exchange and all other required documents
Held:
Refund cannot be denied merely for non-submission of FIRC if the assessee submits a CA certificate confirming receipt of convertible foreign exchange. FIRC is not mandatory if all other documents are in order.
