Airlines can claim Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds for cancelled flight tickets if passengers receive the full refund of both the ticket fare and the taxes, according to a GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) ruling. The decision is connected to a dispute involving Singapore Airlines, which sought to recover GST it said it had paid on cancelled bookings.
The tribunal’s order sets out documentation requirements, noting that airlines must provide sufficient evidence to show the refund trail. In the cited case, Singapore Airlines was granted a refund of Rs 45.92 lakh after demonstrating that refunds were issued directly to passengers during the Covid-19 period. Coverage also says the GST appellate tribunal overturned a prior rejection and directed tax authorities to process the refund within a set timeframe, along with applicable interest.
Across outlets, the emphasis is broadly the same: the ruling offers relief to airlines that struggle to recover GST paid on cancelled tickets, provided the facts support that passengers were not made to bear the tax through “unjust enrichment” concerns. The differing reports largely relate to how they describe the timeline, the procedural steps, and the tribunal’s reasoning around the refund evidence.
