Apportionment of input tax credit (ITC) in cases of business reorganization under section 18 (3) of CGST Act read with rule 41(1) of CGST Rules

To,
The Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners/Principal Commissioners/ Commissioners of Central Tax (All)/ The Principal Director Generals/ Director Generals (All)

Madam/Sir,

Sub: Clarification in respect of apportionment of input tax credit (ITC) in cases of business reorganization under section 18 (3) of CGST Act read with rule 41(1) of CGST Rules – reg.

Representations have been received from various taxpayers seeking clarification in respect of apportionment and transfer of ITC in the event of a merger, demerger, amalgamation or change in the constitution/ownership of the business. Certain doubts have been raised regarding the interpretation of subsection (3) of section 18 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the CGST Act) and sub-rule (1) of rule 41of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the CGST Rules) in the context of business reorganization.

2. According to sub-section (3) of section 18 of the CGST Act,
“Where there is a change in the constitution of a registered person on account of the sale, merger, demerger, amalgamation, lease or transfer of the business with the specific provisions for transfer of liabilities, the said registered person shall be allowed to transfer the input tax credit which remains unutilized in his electronic credit ledger to such sold, merged, demerged, amalgamated, leased or transferred business in such manner as may be prescribed.”

Further, according to sub-rule (1) of rule 41 of the CGST Rules:
“A registered person shall, in the event of a sale, merger, de-merger, amalgamation, lease or transfer or change in the ownership of the business for any reason, furnish the details of the sale, merger, demerger, amalgamation, lease or transfer of business, in FORM GST ITC-02, electronically on the common portal along with a request for transfer of unutilized input tax credit lying in his electronic credit ledger to the transferee:

Provided that in the case of demerger, the input tax credit shall be apportioned in the ratio of the value of assets of the new units as specified in the demerger scheme.

Explanation:- For the purpose of this sub-rule, it is hereby clarified that the “value of assets” means the value of the entire assets of the business, whether or not input tax credit has been availed thereon.

3. The issues raised in various representations have been analyzed in the light of various legal provisions under GST. In order to ensure uniformity in the implementation of the provisions of the law, the Board, in the exercise of its powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 168 of the CGST Act clarifies the issues involved in the Table below.

Related Topic:
Facing Block Credit Under GST Rule 86A & Notices for GSTR 2A & 3B Mismatch

4. The difficulty, if any, in implementation of the Circular may be brought to the notice of the Board. The Hindi version would follow.

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