(1) A registered person claiming refund of any amount of Kerala Flood Cess paid in the circumstances mentioned under sub-rule (6) of rule 3 may claim such refund in form KFC RFD-1 before the expiry of two years from the last day of the financial year in which such supply was made or before the expiry of two years from the date of notification of this rule, whichever is later. The application shall be prepared in the manner specified in sub-rule (12) and shall be furnished before the proper officer;

Explanation: For the purpose of this rule, "Proper Officer" shall be an officer not below the rank of a State Tax Officer in case of application submitted before the officers of the State Tax and not below the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Central Tax in case of application furnished before the officers of Central Tax.

(2) The proper officer shall, within a period of fifteen days of filing the said application, scrutinize the application for its completeness, and where the application is found to be complete, an acknowledgment of the receipt of the same shall be made available to the applicant in form KFC RFD-2;

(3) Where any deficiencies are noticed, the proper officer shall communicate the deficiencies to the applicant in Form KFC RFD-3, requiring him to file a fresh refund application after rectification of such deficiencies:

Provided that the time period from the date of filing of the refund claim in form KFC RFD-1 till the date of communication of the deficiencies in form KFC RFD-3 by the proper officer shall be excluded from the period of two years as specified under sub-rule (1) in respect of any such fresh refund claim filed by the applicant after rectification of the deficiencies.

(4) Where the proper officer is satisfied, for reasons to be recorded in writing, that the whole or any part of the amount claimed as refund is not admissible or is not payable to the applicant, he shall issue a notice in form KFC RFD-8 to the applicant, requiring him to furnish a reply in form KFC RFD-9 within a period of fifteen days of the receipt of such notice, and after considering the reply, make an order in form KFC RFD-6 sanctioning the amount of refund in whole or part or rejecting the said refund claim, and the said order shall be made available to the applicant. The notice in form KFC RFD-8, reply in form KFC RFD-9 and order in form KFC RFD-6 shall be prepared in the manner specified in sub-rule (12):

Provided that no application for refund shall be rejected without giving the applicant an opportunity of being heard.

(5) Where any refund is due to a registered person who has defaulted in furnishing any return in form KFC-A or KFC-A1 or who is required to pay Kerala Flood Cess, interest, or penalty, which has not been stayed by any court, tribunal or Appellate Authority by the date of filing application in form KFC RFD-1, the proper officer may,-

(a) withhold payment of refund by passing an order in Part A of FORM KFC RFD-7 informing him of the reasons for withholding such refund until the said person has furnished the return or paid the Kerala Flood Cess, interest, or penalty, as the case may be;

(b) deduct from the refund due, any Kerala Flood Cess, interest, penalty, fee, or any other amount which the person is liable to pay but which remains unpaid under this rules.

Provided that where the proper officer is satisfied that the refund is no longer liable to be withheld, he may pass an order for release of the withheld refund in Part B of Form KFC RFD-7.

(6) Where an order giving rise to a refund is the subject matter of an appeal or further proceedings or where any other proceedings under Section 14 of the Kerala Finance Act, 2019 are pending and the concerned Joint Commissioner of State Tax/Jurisdictional Commissioner of Central Tax is of the opinion that grant of such a refund is likely to adversely affect the revenue in the said appeal or other proceedings on account of malfeasance or fraud committed, he may, after giving the applicant an opportunity to be heard, withhold payment of the refund by passing an order in Part A of Form KFC RFD- 7 informing him the reasons for withholding of such refund until such time as he may determine:

Provided that where the officer is satisfied that the refund is no longer liable to be withheld, he may pass an order for release of the withheld refund in Part B of Form KFC RFD-7.

(7) If the proper officer is satisfied that the whole or part of the amount claimed as refund is due and payable to the applicant, he shall make an order in form KFC RFD-6 sanctioning the amount of refund to which the applicant is entitled, mentioning therein the amount, if any, refunded to him, and issue a payment order in form KFC RFD-5 within sixty days from the date of receipt of the application, complete in all respects. The order in form KFC RFD-6 and payment order in the form KFC RFD-5 shall be prepared in the manner specified in sub-rule (12):

Provided that there shall be no provisional refund of Kerala Flood Cess.

(8) In cases where the application for refund is processed by the officers of Central Tax, the order in form KFC RFD-6 along with the payment order in form KFC RFD-5 shall be forwarded to the concerned Joint Commissioner of State Tax of the Taxpayer Services Formations for disbursal of refund;

(9) Notwithstanding anything contained in this rule, no refund under this rule shall be paid to an applicant if the amount is less than five hundred rupees;

(10) (i) If any cess ordered to be refunded under sub-rule (4) to any applicant is not refunded within sixty days from the date of receipt of application under sub-rule (1) or date of notification of this rule, whichever is later, interest at the rate of six percent shall be payable in respect of such refund for the period of delay beyond sixty days from the date of receipt of such application or date of notification of this rule, whichever is later, till the date of refund of such cess:

Provided that where any claim of refund arises from an order passed by an adjudicating authority, appellate authority, appellate tribunal, or court that has attained finality and the same is not refunded within sixty days from the date of receipt of application filed consequent to such order or date of notification of this rule, whichever is later, interest at a rate of nine percent shall be payable in respect of such refund from the date immediately after the expiry of sixty days from the date of receipt of application in form KFC RFD-1 by the proper officer referred to in sub-rule (1) or date of notification of this rule, whichever is later, till the date of refund.

Explanation: -

(a) For the purposes of this rule, where any order of refund is made by an Appellate Authority, Appellate Tribunal or any court against an order of the proper officer under sub-rule (1), the order passed by the Appellate Authority, Appellate Tribunal or by the court shall be deemed to be an order passed under the said sub-rule (4).

(ii) The following periods shall not be included in the period of delay under clause (i), namely: -

(a) any period of time beyond fifteen days of receipt of notice in Form KFC RFD- 8 under sub-rule (4), that the applicant takes to-

(i) furnish a reply in Form KFC RFD-9, or

(ii) submit additional documents or reply;

and

(b) any period of time taken either by the applicant for furnishing the correct details of the bank account to which the refund is to be credited or for validating the details of the bank account so furnished, where the amount of refund sanctioned could not be credited to the bank account furnished by the applicant.

(11) Where any interest is due and payable to the applicant under sub- rule (10), the proper officer shall make an order along with a payment order in form KFC RFD-5, specifying therein the amount of refund that is delayed, the period of delay for which interest is payable, and the amount of interest payable;

(12) The forms prescribed in respect of any process or procedure prescribed in this rule shall be filed or issued, as the case may be, manually.

(13) The Commissioner may, by an order, specify the procedures, if any, to be followed by the persons claiming refund under sub-rule (1) and the manner of disposal of application of refund by the Proper Officers.