QUESTION
Facts of the case :
A registered person based at Gujarat had to show the ITC credit of Rs. 50,000/- under the IGST head for the month of January, 2018. However, while filing the GSTR-3B for the said period, the ITC credit was erroneously showed under the SGST and CGST heads as Rs. 25,000/- each.  During the whole F.Y. 2017-18, the registered person output tax liability pertains to CGST & SGST only, thus there is no IGST output liability incurred during the entire period.  The GSTR-2Afor the corresponding F.Y. reflects the said credit under the correct head, i.e. ,IGST credit only.

Question while filing Annual Return -
As per our understanding, there seems to be following alternatives in order to rectify the above error. We need your expert opinion as to which alternate should we go with or is there any other solution that you would suggest for this situation: Alternate -1
While filing the details in Part-III for `details of ITC for the financial year` under table -6B, our question is - “Do we need to fill-up the details as per GSTR-3B or actual books of account?”
Now, there are one opinion each in far our of either of the above alternates
1. As per the instruction for filing annual return to the said table ie. Table 6B - Department has used the word....` Table 4(A)(5) of FORM GSTR-3B may be used for filing up these details”
And
2. Gujarat High Court decision in the case of AAP & Co, V/s Union Of India, in SCA No. 18962 of 2018 held that GSTR-3B is not a return, hence the due date of availment of missed out credit is 31.08.2019. Therefore, we can file the details as per books of account as per the court’s order. Hence, kindly guide as to how to interpret the above scenario

Alternate -2

Is it possible to reverse the erroneous SGST and CGST credits claimed and claim the factual credit of IGST before the due date of annual return? Further, in this case, the reversal would be possible in the DRC-3? And also, the reversal can be done without incurring interest thereon?

As per our opinion, we can carry out the above steps as under -
1. Record the input tax credit in Table 6B of Part-III for `details of ITC for the financial year` as per GSTR-3B
2. Reverse the erroneous credits of Rs. 25,000/- each of CGST & SGST under table -7H of Part-III for `details of ITC for the financial year`
3. Claim the factual credit of IGST of Rs. 50,000/- by showing under Table 8(c) of Part-III for `details of ITC for the financial year Table 13 of Part-V ` Details of previous financial year transaction....`
4. Thereby paying Rs. 50,000/- of reversal of credit through cash ledger in DRC-3 without interest.

Alternate -3

The option under Alternate - 2 may also be exercised by following below mentioned steps :
1. Record the input tax credit in Table 6B of Part-III for `details of ITC for the financial year fill`, as per GSTR-3B
2. Reversed credit Rs. 25,000/- each of CGST & SGST under table -12 of Part-V ` Details of previous financial year transaction....`
3. Claim credit of IGST of Rs. 50,000/- by showing under Table 8(c) of Part-III for `details of ITC for the financial year and Table 13 of Part-V ` Details of previous financial year transaction....`.
The benefit of this alternate is that there is no cash outflow happening in this alternate.
The above view can be taken based on Gujarat High Court decision in the case of AAP & Co, V/s Union Of India, in SCA No. 18962 of 2018 wherein it was held that GSTR-3B is not a return, hence the due date of availment of missed out credit is 31.08.2019 and not 31.03.2019.
Kindly guide us which alternate is more preferable or if we are missing any vital alternate that is more suitable for the solution. Looking forward to your valuable suggestion.
Thanking you,
Yours faithfully,

ANSWER
Alternative 1:
1. As per AAP & Co. ruling it was not established that GSTR 3B is not a return. Therefore GSTR 3B is very much a return. The case law decided that GSTR 3B is not a return under section 39 and therefore ITC claiming time limits are still prevailing till filing of Annual Return. However this judgment is controversial because of its side implications which are being overlooked. We would not have advised in any other case to use this ruling since other high courts may deny the same. However in your case since the taxable person is in Gujarat and therefore under the jurisdiction of Gujarat high court and thus the support of the ruling is strengthened and you may use it to your advantage.
2. Disclosure in 6B should be made correctly and difference between GSTR 9 and GSTR 3B shall be treated in GSTR 9C.

Alternative 2:
1. Reversal should be shown in 7H. Reversal will be done by DRC -03. Reversal is liable to interest since no specific section comes to rescue the taxable person from levy of section 50. Correct ITC can be claimed or not is a matter of pure litigation. Repeating again, since your case is under Gujarat High Court jurisdiction therefore case law of AAP& Co. can be of high support to you. (However in other states the same can be challenged by the department).
2. Claiming of ITC cannot be done by 8C and 13 since these columns are for ITC of 2017-18 claimed in 2018-19 and not in 2019-20.

Alternative 3:
1. To repeat the same reversal of wrong ITC and claiming of correct ITC should not be declared in Part-V since these do not relate to FY2019-20.