Appeals Under GST (Goods and Service Tax)

Ashish M. Shaji

04 Nov, 2020

In this article, we are going to talk about provisions relating to appeal under the CGST Act, 2017. If any taxpayer registered under GST is not satisfied with the order passed by any court of law, then they have an option to give an application in any specified higher authority with a view to seeking any relief from such verdict passed by the lower authority. These applications are known as appeals made in such higher authority. Appeals under GST are to be filed in the prescribed form as it will be filed in that manner as provided under the laws.

Who Can File an Appeal Under GST Laws?

Under the CGST Act provisions, appeals are to be submitted to notified appellate tribunals, and such appeals can be filed by any of the two people:

• Any aggrieved person who is not satisfied with the order passed against him by any adjudicating authority under this Act, SGST Act, and UTGST Act^[1].
• Commissioner of Central Tax can direct any of their subordinate to file an appeal either on their own or on the suggestion of State Tax or Union Territory Tax Commissioner, in any case if they have called for and examined the proceeding’s records of the said order and is not satisfied and has raised questions on the said verdict.

Timeline for filing Appeals under GST

• If the appeal is filed by the aggrieved person against whom the order is passed-

In this case, the appeal is to be filed within three months from the date of communication of such order.

• If the appeal is filed by Commissioner-

In this case, the appeal is to be filed within six months from the date of communication of such order.

Extension

If the appellate authority is of the opinion that any delay after the expiry of the said period of 3 months is due to valid reasons, then they can provide an extension for a further period not exceeding one month.

Timeline for disposal of an Appeal

Every appeal filed shall be disposed of within a period of one year. However, if any stay is imposed on the appeal proceedings than the period of such stay will not be included while computing this period of one year.

Conditions relating to appeals under GST

• Payment Provisions before Appeals: – If any person wishes to file an appeal against any order, then there are certain payment provisions stated that are required to be fulfilled. Such an appellant is required to make payment of the below-stated amount before starting any appeal application proceedings:

1. If the aggrieved person has acknowledged or admitted to the liability in the form of tax, interest thereon, fine or penalty arising out of such order, then payment of such amount should be made in full.
2. Ten per cent of the amount of tax not acknowledged by the aggrieved party against which such appeal is filed.

• If the above-stated payment is made, then the recovery proceedings will be stopped for the time period of such appeal proceedings.
• Adjournment Provisions: – Any such appeal proceedings can be adjourned by the authorities on the application of any of the parties if they show sufficient cause for such adjournment. However, such adjournment can be granted for only three times over the course of such appeal provisions.
• Appellant has an option to add an additional ground for appeal in an ongoing appeal proceeding. However such ground will only be allowed by the appellate authority only if it has sufficient reason to believe that such omission at the time of filing of an appeal was not intentional.

Who is the adjudicating authority?

The adjudicating authority includes the following:

Order of Appellate Authority

Appellate authority after conducting proper inquiry shall pass an order, either confirming, modifying or annulling the order appealed against, and such order shall be in writing.

Communication of the order-

Once the appeal is finalized, the appellate authority is required to communicate the same to:

• The Appellant
• The respondent, and
• The adjudicating authority.

Along with this communication, a copy of the order is also required to be given to the Joint Commissioner or any other authority designated by him.

Opportunity to the appellant of showing Cause

If there is any change expected in the liability of the appellant after the final verdict of the appellate authority then such an order can only be passed after an opportunity of showing cause for not increasing liability is given to the appellant. Such an increase in the liability of the appellant can be a result of any of the following reasons:

1. The increase in the amount of penalty or fine relating to confiscated goods.
2. Confiscating goods of a higher amount
3. Reducing the amount of refund, or any amount erroneously refunded.
4. Input Tax Credit wrongfully availed or reducing the ITC amount.
5. Tax not paid by the appellant, or short paid.

Essential facts related to appeals under GST

• The appeal against the Assistant Commissioner/Deputy Commissioner/ Superintendant may be filed to the Joint Commissioner first;
• The appeal against the Joint Commissioner may be filed to GST Appellate tribunal directly;
• The appeal against the order of Joint Commissioner/Additional Commissioner may be filed directly to the Commissioner (Appeals);
• The appeal against the order of Commissioner (Appeals) may be filed to GST Appellate tribunal first;
• It may be noted that an appeal cannot be filed against non-appealable orders.

Conclusion

Appeals under GST law are governed under Section 107 of CGST Act 2017. The act provides an opportunity to aggrieved person to file appeal before the appellate authority. In case of any query related to GST laws or GST Registration, contact Enterslice.

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