A big taxation reform had been made in the indirect taxation structure in July 2017 with the implementation of GST Law. The law is coming into shape gradually, however at the initial time there were many issues related to interpretation due to drafting errors as well as technical glitches on the GST portal. Due to this, there are a number of cases of litigation between GST Department and the assessee, the most common instances are listed below:
- Order of rejection of Revocation of Cancelled GST Registration
- Order of rejection of GST Refund
- Order of demand on account of mismatch of ITC
In this light, it is important to know the provisions related to appeal under GST law.
Procedure-related to the first appellate authority from assessee point of view:
- If the assessee is not satisfied by any decision or order passed by GST Officer then he has the right to file an appeal before the first appellate authority. Appeal Proceedings are governed by the Section 107 of CGST Act, 2017.
- As per Section 107 (1) of CGST Act, 2017, any person aggrieved by any decision or order passed under this Act or the SGST Act or UTGST Act by an adjudicating authority may appeal to such Appellate Authority as may be prescribed within 3 months from the date on which the said decision or order is communicated to such person.
- If the appeal is against any demand order, then the assessee is required to pay accepted liability (tax, interest, penalty, fees etc.) plus 10% on disputed tax liability.
- As per Rule No – 108 of CGST Rules 2017,an appeal to the Appellate Authority under Section 107 (1) shall be filed in FORM GST APL -01, along with the relevant documents, either electronically or otherwise as may be notified by the Commissioner and a provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately.
- Recently the facility of e-filing the GST Appeal online on GST portal has been activated. The assessee have to Login into his GST Account >Select Services from Dashboard > User Services > My Application > Application Type > Appeal to Appellate Authority, from here the appeal can be filed.
- As per Rule 108 (3) of CGST Rules 2017, copy of the online filled form along with a certified copy of the decision or order appealed against shall be submitted within 7 days of filing the appeal.
- Where the certified copy of the decision or order is submitted within 7 days from the date of filing the FORM GST APL-01, the date of filing of the appeal shall be the date of the issue of the provisional acknowledgement and where the said copy is submitted after 7 days, the date of filing of the appeal shall be the date of the submission of such copy.
- A final acknowledgement, indicating appeal number shall be issued thereafter in FORM GST APL-02 by the Appellate Authority. The appeal shall be treated as filed only when the final acknowledgement, indicating the appeal number, is issued.
- After submission of Appeal, on a specified date the assessee / authorized representative has to present before the Appellate Authority and provide details related to disputed matters.
- After hearing the case/matter, it may be decided in favour of the assessee or decided against the assesse.
- If the assesse is still not satisfied with the decision, he has the option to file a further appeal before Appellate Tribunal.
Appeal to Appellate Tribunal:
- Any person aggrieved by an order passed against him under section 107 or section 108 of GST Act, may appeal to the Appellate Tribunal against such order within 3 months from the date on which the order sought to be appealed against is communicated to the person preferring the appeal
- As the Appellate Tribunal has not been constituted, the Government has clarified that the appeal to tribunal can be made within three months from the date of communication of order or date on which the President or the State President, as the case may be, of the Appellate Tribunal enters office, whichever is later.
- Hence, as of now, the prescribed time limit to make application to Appellate Tribunal will be counted from the date on which President or the State President enters office.
- As per Trade Circular issued by Maharashtra State, after disposal of pending appeal u/s 107, if any demand is confirmed or Appellate Authority has created the additional demand then in such cases the assessee shall submit a declaration in Annexure-I before the jurisdictional tax officer stating that he is proposing to file an appeal to Appellate Tribunal. If such declaration is not submitted within 15 days from the communication of the said order, then it will be presumed that assessee is not willing to file appeal against the order and recovery proceedings may be initiated as per the provisions of law.
An assessee unhappy with any decision or order passed against him under GST law by an adjudicating authority, can appeal to First Appeallate Authority (If the order has been passed by Assistant Commissioner or State Tax Officer, appeal has to be made to the Deputy Commissioner –Appeals. If the order has been passed by Deputy Commissioner, appeal has to be made to Joint Commissioner – Appeals.). If the assesse is not happy with the decision of First Appellate Authority, he can appeal to the Appellate Tribunal, if still the assesse is not satisfied, then subject to prescribed condition she can appeal to the High Court and finally to Supreme Court. At every stage, it is very crucial to follow the timeline and procedure for filing the appeal.
