Returning different type from a function template depending on a condition

I have the following piece of code:

helper.hpp :

struct A {
   uint32_t a, b;
};

struct B {
  uint32_t a, b;
};

template <typename T>
struct C {
  T barcode;
};

Now based on some condition I want to create appropriate struct object in the main.cpp

if(/* something */) {
  C<A> obj;
}
else {
  C<B> obj;
}

Now the problem is since it's inside the if scope I can't access outside it. One way to handle it would be to return the object from a function, something like this:

template <typename T> 
C<T> getObject(){
  if(/* something */) {
    return C<A>{};
  }
  else{
    return C<B>{};
  }
}

auto obj = getObject()

but this is giving me following compilation error:

error: no matching function for call to 'getObject() note: couldn't deduce template parameter 'T'

Really appreciate any help.