Section 141 of CGST Act: Transitional Provisions Relating to Job Work
Section 141 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 is a transitional provision for inputs, semi-finished goods and certain excisable goods that had been sent out under the pre-GST law before the appointed day and were returned, supplied or exported after GST came into force.
Updated: 15 September 2026
What Section 141 covers
The provision was designed to prevent an immediate GST burden merely because goods sent for job work or specified processing before the GST transition were returned after the appointed day. The relief is conditional. The goods had to satisfy the statutory return or permitted supply requirements, and the manufacturer and job worker had to make the prescribed declaration of stock held on the appointed day.
- Inputs sent to a job worker before the appointed day could be returned without tax within the statutory transitional period.
- Semi-finished goods sent for manufacturing processes before the appointed day received similar treatment.
- Specified excisable goods sent for tests or processes not amounting to manufacture were also covered.
- The basic return period was six months from the appointed day, extendable by the Commissioner, on sufficient cause, by not more than two further months.
- Failure to return the goods within the permitted period attracted recovery of input tax credit under Section 142(8)(a), as stated in Section 141.
- Section 141(4) made the tax relief conditional on declaration of the relevant stock details by the manufacturer and job worker in the prescribed manner.
Text and explanation of Section 141
Section 141(1): Inputs sent for job work before GST
(1) Where inputs received at a place of business had, before the appointed day, been removed as such or after partial processing to a job worker for further processing, testing, repair, reconditioning or another purpose under the existing law, no tax was payable on their return to that place on or after the appointed day if they were returned within six months from the appointed day.
The Commissioner could, on sufficient cause being shown, extend that six-month period by a further period not exceeding two months. If the inputs were not returned within the permitted period, the input tax credit became liable to recovery in accordance with Section 142(8)(a).
Section 141(2): Semi-finished goods
(2) Semi-finished goods removed before the appointed day to other premises for manufacturing processes under the existing law could be returned without tax within six months from the appointed day, subject to the same possible extension of up to two months.
If the goods were not returned within the permitted period, the input tax credit was liable to recovery under Section 142(8)(a). The provision also permitted the manufacturer, in accordance with the existing law, to transfer the goods to the premises of a registered person for supply on payment of tax in India or without payment of tax for export within the specified period.
Section 141(3): Excisable goods sent for tests or other processes
(3) Excisable goods manufactured at a place of business and removed without payment of duty before the appointed day for tests or another process not amounting to manufacture could be returned without tax within six months from the appointed day, again subject to an extension by the Commissioner of not more than two months on sufficient cause.
If they were not returned within the permitted period, input tax credit was liable to recovery under Section 142(8)(a). The manufacturer could also transfer the goods from the other premises on payment of tax in India or without payment of tax for export within the specified period, subject to the existing law.
Section 141(4): Declaration condition
(4) The tax relief under sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) applied only where the manufacturer and job worker declared the details of inputs or goods held in stock by the job worker on behalf of the manufacturer on the appointed day in the prescribed form, manner and time.
Rule 119 of the CGST Rules
Rule 119 - Declaration of stock held by a principal and job-worker prescribes the declaration connected with Section 141. A person to whom Section 141 applies was required to submit electronically in FORM GST TRAN-1 the stock of inputs, semi-finished goods or finished goods, as applicable, held on the appointed day, within the period specified under the transitional rules or such further period as extended by the Commissioner.
Meaning of important terms
| Term | Meaning for this provision |
|---|---|
| Appointed day | Section 2(10) defines it as the date on which the provisions of the Act come into force. For this GST transition, the operative appointed day relevant to Section 141 was 1 July 2017. |
| Existing law | Broadly, the pre-GST laws, notifications, rules and other legal instruments relating to taxes or duties on goods or services that were in force before the GST transition, as covered by the statutory definition in Section 2(48). |
| Job work | Section 2(68) defines job work as treatment or process undertaken by a person on goods belonging to another registered person; the person undertaking the job work is the job worker. |
| Input tax credit | Section 2(63) defines input tax credit as credit of input tax. Section 141 specifically links delayed non-return to recovery under Section 142(8)(a). |
Section 141 and Section 143 are different
Section 141 is a transitional provision dealing with specified goods sent out before the GST appointed day. Section 143, by contrast, provides the general GST-era procedure under which a registered principal may send inputs or capital goods to a job worker without payment of tax, subject to statutory conditions and time limits. Current job work transactions should therefore be examined principally under Section 143 and the applicable CGST Rules rather than treated as Section 141 transitional transactions.
Related CGST provisions
For the surrounding transitional scheme, see Section 140 - Transitional arrangements for input tax credit and Section 142 - Miscellaneous transitional provisions. For the continuing job work framework, see Section 143 - Job work procedure.
Practical takeaway
Section 141 should now be read as a legacy GST-transition provision. Its continuing relevance is mainly in disputes, audits, appeals or litigation concerning goods that were already with job workers or other processing premises when GST was introduced. The statutory conditions, the original movement of goods under the existing law, the return or permitted supply within the transitional period, and the prescribed declaration are central to its application.