Returns for UIN Holders: GSTR-11

An embassy pays GST on its rent, its vehicles and its catering like any other buyer. Whether it gets that tax back depends on paperwork completed long before any refund is claimed. The supplier must be registered and must have quoted the embassy’s Unique Identity Number on the invoice. The Ministry of External Affairs must have certified that the mission is entitled to refund. Then the embassy must list the invoices, quarter by quarter, in FORM GSTR-11. GSTR-11 is not a return of tax payable, because a UIN holder makes no taxable supplies. It is a statement of purchases that supports a refund application in FORM GST RFD-10. An invoice missing from it, or one that does not show the UIN, is where most claims are lost.

Who holds a UIN

Section 25(9) provides for a Unique Identity Number, not a GSTIN, for two classes:

• under clause (a), “any specialised agency of the United Nations Organisation or any Multilateral Financial Institution and Organisation notified under the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947, Consulate or Embassy of foreign countries”
• under clause (b), “any other person or class of persons, as may be notified by the Commissioner”

The UIN is granted “for such purposes, including refund of taxes on the notified supplies”. Under rule 17, the application is made in FORM GST REG-13. The proper officer may also act on “a recommendation from the Ministry of External Affairs”. The certificate issues in FORM GST REG-06, and a UIN granted under clause (a) “shall be applicable to the territory of India”.

Who may actually claim the refund is fixed by section 55 and the notification under it. Notification No. 16/2017-Central Tax (Rate) names two classes:

• the United Nations or a specified international organisation, on a certificate that the goods and services are for its official use
• foreign diplomatic missions and consular posts, and their diplomatic agents and career consular officers, where the Protocol Division of the Ministry of External Affairs has certified the entitlement “based on the principle of reciprocity”

For a mission there are further conditions:

• for services, an undertaking that they were received for official purposes or for the personal use of the officer and family
• for goods, a certificate that they are in use and will not be disposed of within three years
• if the Ministry withdraws its certificate, refund stops from the date of withdrawal

Two kinds of filer under rule 82

Rule 82(1) requires every UIN holder who “claims refund of the taxes paid on his inward supplies” to furnish the details of those supplies in GSTR-11, “along with application for such refund claim”. Rule 82(2) covers a UIN issued “for purposes other than refund”. That holder furnishes inward supply details in GSTR-11 only “as may be required by the proper officer”. In practice, then, GSTR-11 is filed by those claiming refund, for the quarters in which they claim.

When it is filed

Neither rule 82 nor rule 95 fixes a due date. Rule 95(1) requires the refund application “once in every quarter”, accompanied by GSTR-11. The portal’s FAQ on GSTR-11 states the position plainly. GSTR-11 is quarterly, but “there is no due date”; it “can be filed any time after end of the relevant Quarter”. A nil statement is not required.

The binding limit is the one for the refund. Section 54(2) requires the application “before the expiry of two years from the last day of the quarter in which such supply was received”. The Finance Act, 2022 substituted “two years” for “six months” from 1 October 2022. A purchase made in the April to June quarter must therefore be claimed by the end of June two years later. Because GSTR-11 accompanies the claim, it falls under the same limit.

What to have ready

• Tax invoices from registered suppliers, from the holder’s purchase records. Rule 95(3) allows refund only where the supplies “were received from a registered person against a tax invoice” and the invoice shows the applicant’s name and GSTIN or UIN.
• Attested copies of invoices that do not show the UIN. The proviso to rule 95(3), in force from 1 April 2021, allows refund on such an invoice “only if the copy of the invoice, duly attested by the authorised representative of the applicant, is submitted along with the refund application”.
• Debit and credit notes received in the quarter.
• Suppliers’ GSTR-1 and GSTR-5 data, which the portal drafts for comparison.
• The Ministry of External Affairs certificate, or the international organisation’s certificate of official use, with the undertakings and certificates required by the notification.
• Bank account details for the refund. RFD-10 asks for the account number, type, bank, holder, branch address, IFSC and MICR.

The form

GSTR-11 is short. Items 1 and 2 give the UIN and the name, which the portal fills in. Table 3 lists inward supplies: 3A for invoices, 3B for debit and credit notes. Each line gives the supplier’s GSTIN, the document number, date and value, the rate, the taxable value, the integrated, central, State or Union territory tax and cess, and the place of supply. The instructions to the form add two conditions. Refund applications “has to be filed in the same State in which the Unique Identity Number has been allotted”. And “only those invoices may be entered on which refund is sought”.

Portal steps

The portal’s FAQ on GSTR-11 sets out the steps:

1. The authorised signatory logs in and opens Services > Returns > Returns Dashboard, selects the year and quarter, and chooses PREPARE ONLINE. An offline tool is also available.
2. The filer downloads the suppliers’ data with DOWNLOAD AUTO DRAFTED DETAILS FOR GSTR-11 (EXCEL). This holds invoices and notes reported to the UIN in Tables 4A, 4C and 9A to 9C of suppliers’ GSTR-1, and Tables 5 and 8A to 8C of GSTR-5.
3. INITIATE PRE-FILL OF GSTR-11 copies those details into Tables 3A and 3B, where they can be edited or deleted. Pre-filling is optional. The portal will not overwrite a document already saved or filed by the holder.
4. The filer adds any invoices not pre-filled, and previews with PREVIEW DRAFT GSTR-11 (PDF).
5. The filer ticks the declaration, selects the authorised signatory, and files with DSC or EVC.

The portal then issues an ARN and offers GENERATE RFD-10 for the same quarter. The FAQ notes that DSC signing is not available to a UIN holder that has not given a PAN, so such a holder uses EVC. Rule 26 allows a return to be verified by a mode the Board notifies as well as by DSC.

The refund: RFD-10 under rule 95

FORM GST RFD-10 states the UIN, the quarter, and the ARN and date of the GSTR-11. Its Table 6, the amount claimed under each tax head, is filled from Table 3 of GSTR-11. Instruction 3 to the form allows the amount to be edited “as per eligibility”, so ineligible amounts can be excluded. The applicant’s authorised representative verifies the form and declares the holder eligible as a notified agency, mission or person. Instruction 4 requires the Ministry of External Affairs certificate to be produced before the proper officer.

The portal acknowledges the application in FORM GST RFD-02 (rule 95(2)). Sanction and payment follow rule 92, which applies “mutatis mutandis” under rule 95(4). Rule 95(1) allows the application to be made “electronically on the common portal or otherwise”, and rule 95(5) gives a treaty or international agreement priority over the refund chapter where they conflict. The portal’s FAQ adds that a liability register and a cash ledger are kept for UIN holders.

Late fee and interest

Neither applies. Section 47 levies late fee on statements and returns under sections 37, 39, 45 and 52, and on the annual return under section 44. GSTR-11 is filed under section 55 and rule 82. No tax is payable with it, so interest under section 50 does not arise. The three-year bars on filing returns, in sections 37(5), 39(11), 44(2) and 52(15), do not name it either. The constraint is the two-year limit for the refund in section 54(2). A late statement means a late refund claim, and after two years, no claim at all.

After filing

The portal’s FAQ says plainly that GSTR-11 cannot be revised once filed. The FAQ does not say whether an invoice left out of a filed statement can be included in a later quarter’s statement, and rule 95 does not address it.

The procedure in summary

1. Obtain the UIN in REG-13 and, for a mission, the Ministry of External Affairs certificate of entitlement.
2. Give the UIN to every supplier so that it appears on invoices and in their GSTR-1 or GSTR-5. Keep attested copies of any invoice without it.
3. After each quarter, download and pre-fill the suppliers’ data, check it against the purchase records, and keep only the invoices on which refund is claimed.
4. File GSTR-11 with DSC or EVC in the State where the UIN was allotted.
5. Generate RFD-10 from the filed statement, adjust the amount to eligibility, give bank details, and produce the certificates to the proper officer.
6. Make each claim within two years from the end of the quarter in which the supplies were received.

The next guide covers what can and cannot be corrected once any GST return has been filed: Correcting Mistakes in Returns.