GST: Appeals, Advance Ruling, Offences and Penalties
Appeals
- Section 107: appeal to the Appellate Authority within three months of communication, with a pre-deposit of 10% of the disputed tax, capped at Rs.20 crore each under CGST and SGST. The Authority should decide within one year.
- Section 112: appeal to the Appellate Tribunal within three months, with a further pre-deposit of 20% of the remaining tax, capped at Rs.50 crore each.
- Section 117: appeal to the High Court within 180 days; Section 109 covers appeals to the Supreme Court.
Advance ruling
Application u/s 97 goes to the Authority u/s 98; appeal lies to the Appellate Authority u/s 101. The ruling is binding on the applicant and the jurisdictional officer u/s 103, and is void u/s 104 if obtained by fraud or suppression. It does not apply where the issue is already pending in proceedings.
Offences and penalties
- Section 122: penalty of Rs.10,000 or the tax evaded or amount involved, whichever is higher, for listed offences.
- Section 125: general penalty up to Rs.25,000.
- Section 132: prosecution where tax evaded exceeds Rs.5 crore (up to 5 years), Rs.2 to 5 crore (up to 3 years) and Rs.1 to 2 crore (up to 1 year).
- Sections 129 and 130 deal with detention, seizure and confiscation.
Worked example
A demand of Rs.8,00,000 of tax is confirmed. An appeal to the Appellate Authority requires a pre-deposit of 10%, that is Rs.80,000, filed within three months of communication of the order.
Traps
- Computing the pre-deposit on tax plus penalty instead of on the disputed tax.
- Counting the Tribunal limitation from the original order rather than the appellate order.
- Seeking an advance ruling on a matter already pending before an authority.
- Treating the general penalty u/s 125 as equal to the tax involved.