Filing a GST Appeal under Section 107: Timelines, Pre-deposit and Preparation

Who can appeal and to whom

Any person aggrieved by a decision or order passed under the CGST Act or the State GST Act by an adjudicating authority may appeal to the Appellate Authority under Section 107 of the CGST Act. The appeal is filed electronically on the GST common portal in Form GST APL-01.

Time limit

The appeal must be filed within three months from the date on which the decision or order is communicated to the taxpayer (Section 107(1)). Under Section 107(4), the Appellate Authority may allow the appeal to be presented within a further period of one month if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing within the original period. Beyond that, the statute does not provide for further condonation at this stage, so deadlines should be diarised as soon as an order is received.

Mandatory pre-deposit

Section 107(6) requires the appellant to pay, before the appeal can be admitted:

• the full amount of tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty arising from the order that the appellant admits; and
• a sum equal to ten per cent of the remaining amount of tax in dispute, subject to the maximum amount specified in that sub-section.

Once the pre-deposit is paid, Section 107(7) provides that recovery proceedings for the balance amount are deemed to be stayed until the appeal is disposed of. The ceiling on the pre-deposit has been amended over time, so the current text of Section 107(6) should be checked on the date of filing.

Preparing the appeal

• Statement of facts: a clear chronology of the notice, reply, hearing and order.
• Grounds of appeal: each legal and factual error in the order, stated separately — for example limitation, jurisdiction, failure to consider the reply, violation of natural justice and errors in computation.
• Evidence: documents already placed before the adjudicating authority. Additional evidence at the appellate stage is admitted only in the circumstances permitted by the CGST Rules, so it is important to put all evidence on record at the reply stage.
• Relief sought: setting aside of the order, or remand for fresh adjudication where appropriate.

Hearing and decision

The Appellate Authority must give the appellant an opportunity of being heard, and may grant adjournments up to three times (Section 107(8) and (9)). It may allow additional grounds not specified in the appeal if satisfied that their omission was not wilful or unreasonable (Section 107(10)). Section 107(13) provides that the Appellate Authority shall, where it is possible to do so, decide the appeal within one year from the date on which it is filed.

After the first appeal

An order of the Appellate Authority can be challenged before the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) under Section 112, subject to its own time limit and a further pre-deposit. Where the proceedings suffer from a breach of natural justice or a jurisdictional defect, a writ petition before the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution may also be considered. See the firm’s GST litigation practice.

This article is general information about the law as understood on the review date shown above. It is not legal advice and does not create an advocate–client relationship. Statutory provisions are amended from time to time; verify the current text before acting.