Provisions for Appeal against Advance Ruling under GST

Ashish M. Shaji

03 Apr, 2021

We have discussed advance ruling provisions under GST earlier. Advance Tax ruling is nothing but a written explanation or interpretation of any provisions of law or Act given by the authority as a reply to an application submitted by any person. Such a person can be an individual or a multi-national organization. This article is describing Provisions for Appeal against Advance Ruling under GST.

We have discussed advance ruling under GST in our previous article. Now let’s discuss what will happen if the applicant is not satisfied by such advance ruling made by the authority. In this article, we are going to cover the topic of appeal against Advance Ruling.

Appeal against Advance Ruling: Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling

Information relating to appellate authority is provided under Section 99 of Central Goods and Service Tax. It states that an appellate authority for advance ruling constituted under the provisions of a State Goods and Services Tax Act^[1] or a Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act will be deemed as the appellate authority for advance ruling for those respective states and union territories.

Appeal against Advance Ruling: Who can file an Appeal?

Under the provisions of this Act, if any one of the following parties is aggrieved by the advance ruling passed by the authority then they can file an appeal against it with the appellate authority for the advance ruling:

Every appeal under this chapter is required to be filed in the prescribed manner along with the applicable fees.

The time limit for appeal against Advance Ruling-

An appeal against the advance ruling can be filed within 30 days from the date of communication of such ruling to the concerned person. However, if the appellate tribunal is of the opinion that there was sufficient and valid cause for any delay in filing of such an appeal, then an extension of not more than 30 days can be granted.

The process relating to the Order of Appellate Authority

• Once an appeal is filed against any advance ruling, appellate authority will give an opportunity of being heard to all the concerned parties.
• After hearing the sides of all the concerned parties, appellate authority will pass an order either confirming or rectifying the ruling appealed against.
• If the members of the appellate authority are of the different opinion and are unable to come to a conclusion, then it is assumed that no advance ruling can be issued on the said questions of the applicant.
• However, if the appellate tribunal comes to a conclusion on the appeal and passes an order. Then duly signed and a certified copy of such order is to be sent to the following parties:

1. The applicant;
2. The concerned officer;
3. The jurisdictional officer;
4. The Authority.

Appeal Disposal Period

The Appellate authority has to give its decision within 90 days time from the date of application. It may be noted that in case the appellate authority members differ in terms of opinion, then advance ruling won’t be issued.

On Whom Advance Ruling will apply to

The big question is once an advance ruling is passed will it apply to everybody in such a situation as the applicant? The answer is no. The act has clearly specified about the applicability of such advance rulings passed by Authority or Appellate Authority. It will apply to the following;

1. The applicant who had filed for advance ruling or appeal
2. The concerned officer and jurisdictional officer.

This applicability will be valid until there is no change in the concerned laws, facts and circumstances.

Rectification of Advance Ruling

Now let’s discuss if any advance ruling once passed can be altered or rectified. If there is an apparent mistake in the advance ruling made by the Authority or Appellate Tribunal of Advance ruling, then it can be amended within 6 months from the date of order.

Such amendment can be done by any Authority or Appellate Tribunal of Advance ruling on their own accord, or based on an application made by any of the following:

1. The applicant
2. The concerned officer or the jurisdictional officer.

However such rectification will only be valid if an opportunity of being heard is given to the applicant in the given cases:

• If such rectification increases the tax liability of the applicant
• If such rectification reduces the amount of admissible input tax credit.

When is Advance Ruling termed Void?

If the Appellate authority is of the opinion that any advance ruling passed by them is a result of:

• The fraud did by applicant;
• Misinterpretation of facts or
• Suppression of material facts

Then such advance ruling will be declared void.

Conclusion

Appeal against advance ruling has been provided under GST. Earlier there wasn’t any scope of appeal against any advance ruling to any tribunal. However this process has been eased by permitting appeal to the appellate authority against advance ruling under GST.

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