100% EOU entitled to refund of unutilized ITC on exports made without payment of tax, where deemed export provisions not followed and its benefits not availed

Last updated: 19 December 2025

Court :
Gujarat High Court

Brief :
The Hon'ble Gujarat High Court in M/s. Shah Paperplast Industries Ltd. &Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.[R/Special Civil Application No. 17246 of 2022, 17080 & 18892 of 2023, 96 & 8319 of 2025dated November 13, 2025], set aside the Appellate Order ("Impugned Order") withdrawing refund granted towards unutilised input tax credit ("ITC") and held that a 100% Export Oriented Unit ("EOU") exporting goods without payment of tax is entitled to refund of unutilized ITC under section 54(3) of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017 ("the CGST Act") read with Rule 89(4) of the Central Goods and Service Tax Rules, 2017 ("the CGST Rules"), and that Appellate Authority could not deny refund only on the ground that the claim was not filed under Rule 89(4A) of the CGST Rules where neither the supplier nor the recipient had availed deemed export benefits under Notification No. 48/2017 - Central Tax dated October 18, 2017 ("Notification No. 48") nor the procedure prescribed under Circular No. 14/14/2017 - GST dated 6.11.2017("Circular No. 14") in case of deemed export has been followed by the suppliers.

Citation :
R/Special Civil Application No. 17246 of 2022, 17080 & 18892 of 2023, 96 & 8319 of 2025dated November 13, 2025