An appeal: what is it?

Under any legal system, an appeal is a request to a higher court to have a lower court’s ruling overturned. Any legal disagreements give rise to appeals.

What are disputes?

Any law, including tax laws, imposes obligations. There are two main categories of these obligations: procedure-related and tax-related. The tax officer (by audit, anti-evasion, inspecting, etc.) verifies the taxpayer’s compliance with these requirements. Situations of apparent or actual non-compliance do arise from time to time. If the disagreement doesn’t go away, it turns into a dispute that needs to be settled.

A departmental official resolves this dispute in the beginning through a quasi-judicial procedure, leading to the issuance of an initial order known by several names, including assessment order, adjudication order, order-in-original, etc.

The Board, the First Appellate Authority, and the Appellate Tribunal are not included in the definition of “adjudicating authority” under the GST Act, which defines it as any authority qualified to make any order or decision under this Act. Therefore, every judgment or order made by the Act can be considered a form of “adjudication.” A few instances are revocation of registration, evaluation using best judgment, determination on a claim for a refund, and application of a penalty.

Steps in the GST appeals process

Appeal tier	Orders went by.	Request to ——-	Act’s Sections
1st	Adjudicating Authority	First Appellate Authority	107
2nd	First Appellate Authority	Appellate Tribunal	109,110
3rd	Appellate Tribunal	High Court	111-116
4th	High Court	Supreme Court	117-118

TO THE ADJUDICATING AUTHORITY

• The Act defines the “Adjudicating Authority” as the body with the authority to provide any decision or order under the GST Act, including rulings on GST appeals.

• Some of the examples of the decisions by the Adjudicating Authority are refusal to a refund request, the choice to cancel registration, the imposition of a penalty, and the application of best judgment while evaluating are a few examples.

TO THE APPELLATE AUTHORITY

• 3 months from the date of order and 1 month as condonation to be followed by the First Appellate Authority. Therefore, the maximum period to file an appeal before the First Appellate authority is 4 months.

• It is also possible to appeal a place of supply case.

• Pre-deposit details: 10% of the amount in dispute and 100% of the undisputed amount , accepted taxes, interest, and fees.

APPEAL PAYMENT There is a 25 crore rupee cap on the maximum deposit.

• The order is expected to be passed within a year of the appeal date.

• Furthermore, the harmed party has the option to file an appeal with the appellate tribunal if they are unhappy with the appellate authority’s ruling.

• APLO1 is the GST appeal form number.

TO THE APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

• The taxpayer has three months from the day the GST Officer notifies them of the decision to file any appeals under the GST.

• An appeal may be filed with the National and Regional Bench regarding the place of supply.

• Pre-deposit details: 20% of the amount in dispute, accepted taxes, interest, and fees. 

APPEAL PAYMENT There is a limit of INR fifty crores on the maximum deposit.

• The order is expected to be passed within a year of the appeal date.

• Furthermore, the harmed party may file an appeal with the High Court if they are unhappy with the appellate tribunal’s ruling.

• APL-O5 is the GST appeal form number.

Sub-rule (1) states that a certified copy of the decision or order and a paper copy of the application in Prescribed Form APL-07 shall be sent to the Registrar in quintuplicate within seven days of the application being filed.

TO THE HIGH COURT

A taxpayer’s right to contest a court order exists. The appeal may be granted by the High Court if it determines that the case raises a significant legal issue. Nonetheless, the person might be able to file an appeal with the High Court if the decision is affirmed by the National or Regional Benches.

Within 180 days after obtaining the order being appealed against, an appeal memorandum must be filed with the High Court, along with the required fee and a clear statement of the significant legal issue at hand.

If a ruling or decision is rendered by the National Bench, Regional Benches of the Appellate Tribunal, or High Court, taxpayers may also file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

Must all appeals be filed with the CGST and SGST authorities? No. The CGST and SGST/UTGST officers have the authority to issue orders by the GST Act. An order made under the CGST will be presumed to apply to the SGST as well, per the Act. If an order has been issued by a CGST officer, however, only CGST officers may file an appeal, review, revision, or rectification against the order. Similarly, concerning SGST, the appropriate SGST officer alone will be the party to review, amend, or correct any order issued by the SGST officer.

The deadline for submitting a GST appeal

After the contested order is communicated, an applicant has three months to submit an appeal to the Appellate Authority.

Furthermore, if the Appellate Authority determines that there was a valid reason for the delay, they may grant a one-month extension.

Could a designated representative show up in court?

Indeed. Unless the Act requires them to appear in person, any person who is obliged to appear before a GST Officer, First Appellate Authority, or Appellate Tribunal may designate an authorized representative to appear on their behalf.

An authorized agent may be…

• a family member
• a normal worker
• a lawyer with practice in any Indian court
• any company secretary, cost accountant, or chartered accountant holding a current certificate of practice
• a former member of the Excise or Tax departments of any state government, with a minimum Group-B gazetted officer rank
• any person who prepares tax returns

Within a year following their retirement, retired officers are not permitted to represent the concerned party.

Certain cases prohibit the filing of an appeal

To control the number of appeals filed and prevent needless litigation costs, the Board or the State Government may, at the Council’s suggestion, set financial limitations for appeals made by the GST officer. Is it possible to challenge every decision?

No. A GST officer’s rulings regarding the following cannot be appealed:

• a directive to switch the officer handling the proceedings;

• an order to keep or confiscate other documents, including books of accounts;

• A sanction order under the Act authorizing prosecution; or

• An order permitting the installment payment of taxes and other amounts

An individual may file an appeal with the First Appellate Authority if they are dissatisfied with any ruling or order made under GST against them by an adjudicating authority.

They have the right to appeal to the National Appellate Tribunal, the High Court, and ultimately the Supreme Court if they are unhappy with the ruling made by the First Appellate Authority.

Retraction of an appeal for GST

At the 48th meeting of the GST Council, it was determined to offer the opportunity to withdraw a previously filed GST appeal.

The goal of this action was to lessen the volume of lawsuits that the appellate authorities must handle. In this context, Notification No. 26/2022-Central Tax introduced a new Rule 109C into the CGST Rules.

According to Rule 109C, the petitioner may submit a withdrawal of appeal application at any point up to the issuance of the show-cause notice or the order under Section 107(11), whichever comes first.

This relates to any appeal that has been submitted using Form GST APL-01 or Form GST APL-03. The new Form GST APL-01/03W must be used to file the appeal withdrawal application.

What occurs if the taxpayer misses the three-month deadline for filing the appeal?

If the Appellate Authority determines that the taxpayer was prevented from presenting the appeal for a valid reason, it may grant a one-month grace period.

So in effect there is a four month grace period.

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