GST Basics #22: Section 107 — How to Appeal a GST Demand Order

The first appeal against a GST order, in plain language: the three-month deadline, the ten per cent pre-deposit and its ceiling, Form GST APL-01, the portal steps, and the two traps that catch people out.

When the department passes an order against you, that order is not the end of the road. It may be a demand under Section 73 or Section 74, a penalty, or the cancellation of your registration. Section 107 of the CGST Act gives you a right of appeal to the Appellate Authority, and this instalment covers how that first appeal actually works.

Start with the clock, because it is the part people lose on. The GST portal's own guidance says an appeal must be filed "within three months from the date on which the said decision or order is communicated". The Appellate Authority may allow one further month, and no more, if it is satisfied that you were prevented by sufficient cause from filing in time. Note the word communicated. Time runs from when the order reached you, not from the date typed on it, which is why the manner of service matters so much.

Next, the pre-deposit. You cannot appeal for free. A minimum of ten per cent of the disputed tax has to be paid before the appeal can be filed. The portal defaults to ten per cent and allows a lower figure only where the competent authority has approved one. It also shows a ceiling on the pre-deposit, twenty crore rupees for central and state tax and forty crore rupees for integrated tax. The ten per cent is calculated on the disputed tax alone, not on the interest and penalty, and once it is paid, recovery of the balance is held off while the appeal is alive. Credit in your electronic credit ledger can be used against tax, but not against penalty, so plan the funding before you file.

The mechanics are straightforward. The form is GST APL-01, filed on the portal under Services, then User Services, then My Applications, choosing "Appeal to Appellate Authority". You download the annexure template, complete it, upload it as a PDF, and attach up to four supporting documents. The application is signed with a digital signature or through EVC, and a digital signature is compulsory for companies and limited liability partnerships. Where integrated tax is in dispute you must state the place of supply. You get an acknowledgement immediately, and the Appellate Authority issues the final acknowledgement with your appeal number in Form GST APL-02. Two practical warnings from the portal itself: a saved but unsubmitted draft is deleted after fifteen days, and if you have already filed a rectification application you cannot then file an appeal, so choose one route deliberately.

Both pages are worth reading before you file: https://tutorial.gst.gov.in/userguide/appeal/appeal_faq.htm and https://tutorial.gst.gov.in/userguide/appeal/appeal_manual.htm

Read Section 107 itself for its sub-sections, and check the position on a further appeal to the Appellate Tribunal, which carries its own time limit and its own additional pre-deposit. For what precedes all this, see instalment #21 on demands under Sections 73 and 74, and instalment #18 on the electronic ledgers you will pay from.

Topics:section 107GST appealAPL-01pre-depositappellate authoritydemand orderGST basicsDRC-07APL-02Chennai GSTTamil Nadu GST

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