Section 19 handles the commonest classification error: treating an intra-State supply as inter-State, or the reverse. The taxpayer pays the right tax and gets back the wrong one — and owes no interest for the gap. Section 77 of the CGST Act is the mirror provision.
Key points
- Under section 19(1) of the IGST Act, 2017, IGST paid on a supply later held to be intra-State is refunded, on payment of the CGST and SGST or UTGST due.
- Under section 19(2), a person who paid CGST and SGST or UTGST on a supply later held to be inter-State pays IGST without interest.
- CBIC Circular 162/18/2021-GST clarified that "subsequently held" covers a taxpayer's own later correction, not only an officer's finding.
- The refund must be claimed within two years of paying the correct tax (Rule 89(1A) of the CGST Rules).
The provisions
19(1)–(2)Wrong head — refund and no interest
Statutory text
(1) A registered person who has paid integrated tax on a supply considered by him to be an inter-State supply, but which is subsequently held to be an intra-State supply, shall be granted refund of the amount of integrated tax so paid in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.
(2) A registered person who has paid central tax and State tax or Union territory tax, as the case may be, on a transaction considered by him to be an intra-State supply, but which is subsequently held to be an inter-State supply, shall not be required to pay any interest on the amount of integrated tax payable.
Statutory text as published on the CBIC tax information portal, as on 03.10.2026; the numbered notes record each amendment. Official source
Common questions
- What if I charged IGST but the supply was intra-State?
- Pay CGST and SGST and claim refund of the IGST under section 19(1) of the IGST Act, within two years of paying the correct tax (Rule 89(1A) CGST Rules).
- Is interest payable if I paid CGST and SGST instead of IGST?
- No interest on the IGST payable — section 19(2) of the IGST Act. Claim refund of the CGST and SGST under section 77 of the CGST Act.
Commentary and case notes checked against the judgments and CBIC sources on 04.10.2026.
What it means
Sub-section (1): IGST paid on what turns out to be an intra-State supply is refunded "in such manner and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed". Sub-section (2): CGST and SGST paid on what turns out to be inter-State does not make the taxpayer liable to interest on the IGST now payable. Section 77 of the CGST Act provides the corresponding refund of CGST and SGST.
The procedure is in Rule 89(1A) of the CGST Rules: the refund of the wrongly paid tax is claimed within two years of the date of payment of the correct tax. CBIC Circular 162/18/2021-GST confirmed that the remedy applies whether the error is found in an assessment or adjudication, or corrected by the taxpayer itself.
The remedy assumes the tax was paid in the wrong head for a real supply. It is not a route to undo a self-assessed return for other reasons — the Supreme Court in Union of India v Bharti Airtel (2021) held that a GSTR-3B can be corrected only in the period the error is noticed, as section 39(9) of the CGST Act allows.