The CBIC has published Notification No. 15/2021 – Central Tax, which notifies the CGST(Central Goods and Services Tax) (Fourth Amendment) Rules, 2021. Here’s a quick rundown of what it’s all about:

1. Rule 23(1) is revised to provide for the filing of an application for revocation of cancellation of registration within 30 days of the date of serving of the order of cancellation, or within such time as the Additional Commissioner, Joint Commissioner, or Commissioner, as the case may be, extends. This change is made to align the rules with the changes made to Section 30 of the CGST Act, which allows for the extension of the time limit for filing a revocation application.

2. A proviso has been added to Rule 90(3) to exclude the time period from the date of filing the refund claim in FORM GST RFD-01 till the date of communication of the deficiencies in FORM GST RFD-03 by the proper officer from the two-year period specified under Section 54, sub-section (1), in respect of any such fresh refund claim filed by the applicant after rectification of the deficiency. This is a welcome relief, as it was previously noticed that deficiency notes were frequently given after the required two-year deadline had expired.

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3. Rule 90 has been amended to add sub-rule (5), which states that an applicant may withdraw his refund application at any time prior to the issuing of a provisional refund, final refund, payment order, refund withhold order, or notification by filing a new FORM. RFD-01W is a type of RFD.

4. Rule 90 has been amended to add sub-rule (6), which states that any amount debited by the applicant from an electronic credit ledger or an electronic cash ledger, as the case may be, while filing a refund application in FORM GST RFD-01 would be credited back to the ledger from which the debit was made upon submission of FORM RFD-01W.

5. Rule 92, sub-rule (1), pertaining to PART A of FORM RFD-07, has been removed.

6. The former PART B of the RFD-07 form has been redesignated PART-A.

7. A proviso to Rule 92(2) has been added to allow the proper officer or the Commissioner to issue an order for the release of a withheld refund in PART B of FORM RFD-07 if the refund is no longer liable to be withheld.

8. Modifications to the instructions for FORM REG-21 in accordance with Rule 23.

9. The above-mentioned adjustments have been incorporated into FORM RFD-07.