How do I claim a refund of excess GST paid?

CA Vijay R Singh, FCA
Chartered Accountant · ICAI M.No. 153926 · FRN 136869W

Short answerFile a refund application in Form RFD-01 on the GST portal, selecting the right ground — for example excess balance in the cash ledger, tax paid by mistake, or excess payment. Attach the supporting documents; the officer processes it and credits the refund to your bank account.

Use RFD-01

Most GST refunds — other than the automatic IGST-on-export route — are claimed by filing Form RFD-01 online. You choose the ground: excess cash-ledger balance, tax paid in error (wrong head or twice), accumulated ITC, or other categories. The right ground determines the documents needed.

Documents and processing

You attach the relevant evidence — a statement of invoices, the reason for the excess, and a declaration. The officer may issue an acknowledgement (RFD-02) or a deficiency memo (RFD-03) asking for more. Once satisfied, the refund is sanctioned and credited to your bank account. There is a time limit (generally two years) to claim — confirm.

A worked example

Example: you accidentally paid ₹1 lakh under CGST/SGST when it should have been IGST. You pay the correct IGST, then file RFD-01 for the wrongly-paid ₹1 lakh as ‘tax paid under wrong head’, and recover it. Similarly, an unused cash-ledger balance can be refunded. Claiming within the time limit and with clean documents speeds it up. Our team can file the refund.

GST

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This answer is general information for businesses, not tax advice. Tax rates, thresholds and forms change with each Finance Act — please confirm the current position for your own facts, or speak to us, before acting.