CHANGES IN THE PROCEDURE OF FILING APPEAL BEFORE GST APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

Appeal to Appellate Tribunal

The following rules contained in Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 provides the procedure for filing appeal before the GST Appellate Tribunal, which has not yet come for functioning-

• Rule 110 – Appeal to Appellate Tribunal;
• Rule 111 – Application to the Appellate Tribunal;
• Rule 112 – Production of additional evidence before the Appellate Tribunal;
• Rule 113 – Order of Appellate Tribunal.

Recent amendment to Rules

Vide Notification No. 12/2024 – Central Tax, dated 10.07.2024, the Central Government made the Central Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Rules, 2024 to amend the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017.  These Rules came into effect on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Para 21 substituted the existing Rule 110 for a new Rule.  Para 22 substituted the existing Rule 111 for a new Rule.  Para 23 inserted a new Rule 113A.

Appeal to Appellate Tribunal

The newly substituted Rule 110 provides the procedure for filing appeal before the Appellate Tribunal as detailed below-

• An appeal to the Appellate Tribunal shall be filed in FORM GST APL-05, duly signed, along with the relevant documents, electronically.
• A provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately.
• The appeal may be filed in Form GST APL - 5 only if the Registrar allows the same by issuing a special or general order to that effect, subject to such conditions and restrictions as specified in the said order.  A provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately.
• A memorandum of cross-objections to the Appellate Tribunal, if any, shall be filed electronically in FORM GST APL-06, duly signed.
• The same may be filed manually in FORM GST APL-06, only if the Registrar allows the same by issuing a special or general order to that effect, subject to such conditions and restrictions as specified in the said order.
• Where the order appealed against is uploaded on the common portal, a final acknowledgement, indicating appeal number, shall be issued in FORM GST APL-02 on removal of defects, if any.
• The date of issue of the provisional acknowledgement shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal.
• If the order appealed against is not uploaded on the common portal, the appellant shall submit or upload,  a self-certified copy of the said order within a period of 7 days from the date of filing of FORM GST APL-05.
• A final acknowledgement, indicating appeal number, shall be issued in FORM GST APL-02 on removal of defects, if any.
• The date of issue of the provisional acknowledgment shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal.
• The appeal shall be treated as filed only when the final acknowledgement, indicating the appeal number, is issued.
• The fees for filing of appeal or restoration of appeal shall be Rs.1000/- for every Rs.1 lakh of tax or input tax credit involved or the difference in tax or input tax credit involved or the amount of fine, fee or penalty determined in the order appealed against, subject to a maximum of Rs.25000/- and a minimum of Rs.5000/-
• The fees for filing of an appeal in respect of an order not involving any demand of tax, interest, fine, fee or penalty shall be Rs.5000/-

Application to the Appellate Tribunal

The newly substituted Rule 111 provides the procedure for filing application before the Appellate Tribunal as detailed below-

• An application to the Appellate Tribunal under section 112 (3), duly signed, shall be filed in Form GST APL-07, along with the relevant documents, electronically.
• A provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately.
• The said application may be filed manually in FORM GST APL-07, along with the relevant documents, only if the Registrar allows the same by issuing a special or general order to that effect, subject to such conditions and restrictions as specified in the said order
• In such case, a provisional acknowledgement shall be issued to the appellant immediately.
•  A memorandum of cross-objections to the Appellate Tribunal under section 112(5), if any, shall be filed electronically in FORM GST APL-06, duly signed.
• The memorandum of cross-objections may be filed manually in FORM GST APL-06, only if the Registrar allows the same by issuing a special or general order to that effect, subject to such conditions and restrictions as specified in the said order.
• Where the order appealed against is uploaded on the common portal, a final acknowledgement, indicating appeal number, shall be issued in FORM GST APL-02 on removal of defects, if any.
• The date of issue of the provisional acknowledgement shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal.
• If the order appealed against is not uploaded on the common portal, the appellant shall submit or upload, as the case may be, a self-certified copy of the said order within a period of 7 days from the date of filing of FORM GST APL-07.
• A final acknowledgment, indicating appeal number shall be issued in FORM GST APL-02 on removal of defects, if any, and the date of issue of the provisional acknowledgment shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal.
• If the said self-certified copy of the order is submitted or uploaded after a period of 7 days from the date of filing of FORM GST APL-07, a final acknowledgement, indicating appeal number, shall be issued in FORM GST APL-02 on removal of defects, if any.
• The date of submission or uploading of such self-certified copy shall be considered as the date of filing of appeal.

Withdrawal of appeal

The newly inserted Rule 113A provides for withdrawal of appeal from the Tribunal.  The said section provides that the appellant may, at any time before the issuance of the order, in respect of any appeal filed in FORM GST APL-05 or any application filed in FORM GST APL-07, file an application for withdrawal of the said appeal or the application, as the case may be, by filing an application in FORM GST APL-05/07W.

Where the final acknowledgment in FORM GST APL-02 has been issued, the withdrawal of the said appeal would be subject to the approval of the Appellate Tribunal. Such application for withdrawal of the appeal or application, shall be decided by the Appellate Tribunal within 15 days of filing of such application.

Any fresh appeal or application   filed by the appellant pursuant to such withdrawal shall be filed within the time limit specified in sub-section (1) or sub-section (3) of section 112, as the case may be.

Reasons for withdrawal

One or more of the following may be the reason for withdrawal of appeal before the Appellate Tribunal-

• Acceptance of order of the First Appellate Authority;
•  Acceptance of order of an Appellate Tribunal/ Court on similar subject matter;
• Need to file appeal/application again after rectification of mistakes/omission in the filed appeal/application;
• Amount involved in appeal is less than the monetary limit fixed for appeal as per provisions of sub-section (2) of section 112.
• Amount involved in the application is less than the monetary limit fixed for application as per the provisions of sub-section (1) of section 120;
•  Any other reason.