Bombay High Court Orders ₹3.14 Crore Refund for IBM India Pvt. Ltd.

IBM India Pvt. Ltd has won a significant victory in the Bombay High Court, which has directed the Maharashtra tax authorities to refund ₹3,14,58,422 paid as a GST pre-deposit.

The company had challenged an adjudication order dated February 21, 2024, confirming a tax demand of ₹48,96,54,949. On March 17, 2025, the appeal was partly allowed, with the appellate authority dropping a demand of ₹31,45,84,219, approximately 64% of the original demand.

The tax department initially rejected IBM's claim for a refund of ₹3,14,58,422, representing 10% of the dropped demand. However, the Bombay High Court disagreed with this reasoning, noting that IBM's proposed further challenge concerned only the portion of the appellate order that had gone against it.

The Court held that the department itself had not challenged the dropping of the ₹31.45 crore demand, and therefore the portion of the appellate order favourable to IBM had attained finality.