Goods and Services Tax

Mandatory Pre-Deposit requirement bars writ relief to bypass statutory appeal pre-conditions; appealability depends on deposit compliance.
Case-Laws
GST
Mandatory pre-deposit under Section 107(6)(b) of the CGST Act is a statutory pre-condition to entertain an appeal; the clause requires depositing ten per cent of the remaining tax in dispute (subject to the statutory cap) before filing an appeal and contains no provision for an advance waiver. Consequently, the High Court lacks power to act as an appellate authority to relieve a litigant of that statutory pre-condition or to allow a writ to bypass it. The writ petition seeking such relief was held misconceived and dismissed for seeking to avoid the mandatory pre-deposit.
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Inclusion of tax component in turnover: remand ordered to prevent double taxation and require fresh consideration after hearing.
Case-Laws
GST
Inclusion of a tax component within reported turnover was identified as the dominant issue; the article explains that treating tax as turnover risks double taxation and that the assessing authority must reassess the point because exclusion of the tax component follows from the statutory definition. The text further addresses the pre-deposit requirement, noting the contention on tax inclusion was raised in assessment proceedings and therefore is not a fresh plea to avoid pre-deposit; on that basis the impugned assessment is set aside in part and remitted for fresh consideration after giving the petitioner an opportunity of hearing and securing a specified deposit.
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Natural Justice: failure to reply to portal notices forecloses writ relief; statutory appeal with pre-deposit is the remedy.
Case-Laws
GST
Writ relief was held impermissible where an efficacious statutory appeal existed and the petitioner failed to respond to portal notices; the court found no breach of natural justice because notices and show-cause drafts were made available and no reply or request for personal hearing was filed, and substantive disputes-mismatch between TDS credit and GSTR 1/3B, clerical classification of supplies and correctness of tax liability-must be raised in appeal before the appellate authority; further, the writ cannot be used to avoid the statutory pre-deposit requirement, and the petition was dismissed.
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Biodegradability determination: AAR cannot decide technical compostability; Chapter 39 classification controls GST rate, concessional reduced rate applies if biodegradable.
Case-Laws
GST
Classification of polymer carry bags as articles for packing under Chapter 39 (heading 3923, subheading 39232990) determines tariff treatment; this placement does not depend on biodegradability. The AAR lacks jurisdiction to make scientific or environmental findings on biodegradability or compostability, so it declined to decide that factual question. The concessional notification for biodegradable bags applies only if the goods are in fact biodegradable as determined by competent technical authorities; otherwise the general GST rate for Chapter 39 applies. Registration, input tax credit and supply characterisation remain subject to applicable GST rules.
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Validity of time extension notifications – statutory appeal allowed within four weeks; appellate outcome subject to pending substantive challenge.
Case-Laws
GST
Challenge to the legality of Central and State notifications extending time under Section 73(10) CGST/RGST was addressed by permitting an interim procedural remedy: the petitioner may file a statutory appeal against assessment orders within four weeks. The Court exercised discretion to grant this limited time as an accommodation without prejudicing the pending substantive challenge to the Notifications before the Supreme Court. The appellate proceedings are expressly made subject to the ultimate determination on the Notifications' validity, and applications for condonation of delay and exemption of filings were allowed.
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Concessional IGST entitlement denied where prescribed supplier recipient order and movement conditions are not strictly complied with.
Case-Laws
GST
Entitlement to concessional IGST at 0.1% under Notification No. 41/2017-I.T.(Rate) turns on strict compliance with the Notification's prescribed conditions, particularly that the registered recipient must place an order on the registered supplier and goods must move from the registered supplier either directly to the export point or to a registered warehouse as specified. The court held that the scheme contemplates only the registered supplier and registered recipient and that supply to a third party does not meet the conditions; purposive construction in favour of the taxpayer could not override clear, express conditions. Outcome: concession denied and writ dismissed.
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Time limit for Input Tax Credit extended retrospectively; claims within the extended period permitted and remitted for factual eligibility review.
Case-Laws
GST
Section 16(5), as inserted retrospectively from 01.07.2017, extends and overrides the time limit under Section 16(4) for claiming input tax credit for financial years 2017 18 to 2020 21, so returns filed within the extended cut off are not barred merely by the earlier time limit; orders denying ITC solely on that time bar were set aside. The matter is remitted to the assessing authority to determine factual eligibility for the claimed ITC, permitting factual reassessment but not re-opening the legal conclusion on the extended time limit.
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Ex parte assessment remitted for fresh adjudication; reply and ledger verification required before recovery or bank attachment vacatur.
Case-Laws
GST
An ex parte assessment based on a Show Cause Notice in Form GST DRC-01 is remitted for fresh adjudication; the taxpayer must file a reply with supporting documents within 30 days and the respondent must verify whether disputed sums were recovered from the Electronic Liability Ledger and, if not, require deposit. On compliance the respondent shall decide the matter on merits expeditiously (preferably within three months) and any bank attachment shall be vacated conditionally where no other arrears exist. Failure to comply permits statutory recovery as if the petition were dismissed, subject to prior notice before enforcement action.
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Advisory regarding confirmation of “Tax Liability Breakup, As Applicable” in GSTR-3B
GST
Dated:- 16-3-2026

1.   In terms of the provisions of Section 50 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, interest is payable where the tax liability pertaining to a previous tax period is discharged in a subsequent tax period. Accordingly, the tab “Tax Liability Breakup, As Applicable” in Form GSTR-3B is meant to capture the tax liability relating to supplies of previous tax periods which are being reported and discharged in the current tax period.

2.   From the February 2026 tax period onwards, the GST Portal auto-populates the “Tax Liability Breakup, As Applicable” in GSTR-3B on the basis of the document da

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ly in cases where supplies pertaining to previous tax periods have been reported in the current tax period. However, the confirmation is presently being required in all cases, including where the liability relates only to the current tax period. The feedback is acknowledged by GSTN and the same is under resolution.

6.   Meanwhile, taxpayers are requested to kindly open the “Tax Liability Breakup, As Applicable” tab on the payment page and click “SAVE” within the tab for filing during the current reform cycle. Thereafter, filing of Form GSTR-3B can be completed normally.

Taxpayers are requested to kindly follow the above interim procedure till the issue is resolved on the portal.

Thanks,

Team GSTN

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Advisory on the Payment of pre-deposit while filing of appeal before First Appellate authority
GST
Dated:- 16-3-2026

1. Sometimes taxpayers voluntarily pay some amount during the investigation stage using Form GST DRC-03. Later, when the taxpayer wants to file an appeal application against the demand order issued after the investigation, they are required to pay a pre-deposit to file the appeal. However, many taxpayers complain that the GST portal still asks them to pay the pre-deposit even when they have already paid more than the required amount through Form GST DRC-03

2. When a demand order (for example, Form GST DRC-07) is issued to a taxpayer, a Demand ID is created in Part II of the Electronic Liability Register on the

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ng for further payment. Portal will show the below message, if required amount is already paid the taxpayer.

b. If such amount is lesser than the required amount, then Portal mandates the taxpayer for the payment of Balance payable.

Pre-deposit Payment made through DRC 03:

4. As explained earlier, any payment made through Form GST DRC-03 is not automatically recognized by the GST system against any specific Demand ID. Therefore, such payments are not considered by the system while calculating the pre-deposit amount required for filing an appeal. To ensure that the payment made through Form GST DRC-03 is counted against a particular demand order, the payment must be linked with the respective Demand ID by filing Form GST DRC-0

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Transfer of Input Tax Credit allowed across States on NCLT approved amalgamation; manual ITC 02 acceptance and six week processing mandated.
Case-Laws
GST
The article explains that the departmental endorsement added to statutory Form ITC-02, requiring transferor and transferee to be in the same State/UT, lacks statutory basis and is unlawful; therefore it cannot be used to deny unutilised input tax credit. It states that Section 18(3) read with Rule 41 permits transfer of unutilised CGST on an NCLT approved amalgamation even where entities are in different States, and that portal restrictions are de hors the statutory scheme. Practically, until the portal is amended, the department must accept manually filed ITC-02 forms and process them within six weeks of receipt.
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Show Cause Notice formalities and electronic authentication are mandatory; failure to afford statutory hearing invalidates recovery action.
Case-Laws
GST
The text analyses the legal requirements for initiating tax recovery under Section 73: a formal, authenticated Show Cause Notice specifying reasons and a separate statement of determination are mandatory and cannot be replaced by an attachment to FORM GST DRC-01 or DRC-07; proceedings and orders based solely on unauthenticated summaries are legally defective. In the absence of specific authentication rules in Chapter XVIII, electronic authentication by digital/e signature (Rule 26(3)) applies by default and lack of such authentication vitiates the documents. Separately, Section 75(4) confers a statutory right to a hearing before adverse action and failure to afford that hearing breaches natural justice and invalidates the order.
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Show cause notice requirement: absence of a formal SCN and denial of hearing led to the impugned order being set aside.
Case-Laws
GST
High Court held that initiation of proceedings under Section 74 requires issuance of a formal show cause notice stating reasons and that a summary in Form GST DRC-01 with an attached statement of determination cannot substitute for the SCN mandated by Section 74 read with Rule 142(1)(a); initiation without a proper SCN was contrary to law. The Court also found that an opportunity of hearing prescribed by Section 75(4) must be granted before an adverse order; failure to afford a hearing vitiated the impugned order. The impugned order was set aside, liberty granted to initiate de novo proceedings, and the interregnum excluded for limitation calculation.
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Show Cause Notice formalities: summaries cannot initiate proceedings and unauthenticated documents invalidate orders; hearing required.
Case-Laws
GST
Formal initiation under the tax demand regime requires a distinct Show Cause Notice and a Statement; a summary in FORM GST DRC-01 is supplementary and cannot substitute for the Section 73 Show Cause Notice, so attachment of a tax-determination statement to DRC-01 does not validly initiate proceedings. Documents constituting the SCN, Statement or final Order must be authenticated by the Proper Officer with electronic/digital e-signature under applicable rules; unauthenticated attachments lack legal efficacy. Where an adverse decision is contemplated, a personal hearing must be afforded as a statutory safeguard; failure to provide the mandated hearing breaches natural justice. The impugned order was set aside and fresh proceedings are permitted, with a specified exclusion for limitation.
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Statutory Appeal Forum Functionality: where the tribunal is functional, petitioners must meet appeal conditions and file the statutory remedy.
Case-Laws
GST
Where a statutory appellate forum is constituted and functional, writ jurisdiction is inappropriate and petitioners must pursue the statutory remedy; the court directed the petitioner to comply with the mandatory pre condition in Section 112(8) (deposit requirement) and to file the appeal within the notified timeline, whereupon the GSTAT shall entertain the appeal if it is in order under Section 112 and applicable rules. The writ was disposed of with directions to deposit and file before the Tribunal; the court declined to rule on the merits of the first appellate order.
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Restoration of GST registration: furnish pending returns and pay dues to enable authorities to drop cancellation and restore registration.
Case-Laws
GST
Petitioner may seek restoration of GST registration by complying with the proviso to the relevant rule: furnish all pending returns and make full payment of tax, interest and late fees, whereupon the empowered officer may drop cancellation proceedings and pass an appropriate order in the prescribed form. The court exercised extraordinary jurisdiction because earlier appeal was dismissed as time-barred, directed petitioner to apply within two months, and held that limitation under the applicable limitation provision will run from this order (with a specified exception for the 2024-25 financial year). Order is fact-specific and not a precedent.
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Benefit of GST subsumation must be passed to consumers; profiteering found and directed to consumer welfare funds.
Case-Laws
GST
Subsumation of pre-GST levies into GST reduced the effective tax incidence on DTH services, and that statutory reduction (despite a higher headline rate) created a pass through benefit which suppliers were obliged to transmit to consumers; failure to collect entertainment tax pre GST does not negate that obligation. The obligation to pass resulting tax/ITC benefits applies and was found unmet, with profiteering quantified by comparison of input tax credit to turnover (DGAP methodology) at the stated amount for the period, and the remedy directed as deposit into Central and State Consumer Welfare Funds with interest treatment governed prospectively by the amended rules.
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Writ remedy remains available when the appellate tribunal is non functional, but statutory pre deposit conditions must be complied with.
Case-Laws
GST
When a statutory appellate forum is non-functional an aggrieved person may seek writ relief to avoid being remediless, but such relief cannot displace or relax statutory conditions attached to the statutory appeal. The note emphasises that where the appellate tribunal has been made functional and filing windows extended, disputes should be adjudicated by the designated forum. The pre-deposit condition requiring payment of the admitted amount and an additional portion of disputed tax remains binding and must be complied with before the appeal is entertained by the tribunal within the prescribed timeline.
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Cancellation of GST registration: furnishing pending returns and paying dues permits dropping proceedings and consideration for restoration.
Case-Laws
GST
Cancellation for non filing of returns may be dropped where the registered person furnishes all pending returns and pays tax, interest and late fee as required by the proviso to Rule 22(4); the proper officer is empowered to pass FORM GST REG 20 and consider restoration of GST registration upon such compliance. The petitioner was directed to apply within the prescribed period and, on compliance, the authority shall expeditiously consider restoration. Computation of limitation under Section 73(10) runs from this order, with the financial year 2024 25 governed by Section 44.
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Restriction of Input Tax Credit under Rule 86A applies only to fraudulently or ineligible availed credit; mere wrongful recipient availment is insufficient.
Case-Laws
GST
Rule 86A may be invoked only where credit in the electronic credit ledger has been fraudulently availed or is otherwise ineligible under the rule's specified conditions (for example, documents from a non-existent person, no receipt of goods/services, tax not paid, recipient non-existent, or lack of prescribed documents); where allegations concern only wrongful availment by the recipient of invoices and not fraudulent availment or ineligibility by the invoicing taxpayer, Rule 86A cannot be validly applied. Applying that principle, the notice invoking Rule 86A against the petitioner was without jurisdiction and the blocked electronic credit ledger must be unblocked, with other departmental contentions left open.
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Statutory apportionment 70:30 for Solar Power Systems yields a uniform 8.9% tax on gross consideration; assessments to be recomputed.
Case-Laws
GST
The explanation to Entry No.234 prescribes treating supplies of Solar Power Generating Systems as subject to a statutory 70:30 apportionment between goods and services, producing a uniform effective tax rate of 8.9% on the gross consideration; this apportionment applies even where supplies arise under contracts described as works contracts. The Court set aside the impugned assessment for April 2018-March 2020 and remanded to the Assessing Authority to recompute tax by applying the 70:30 split and 8.9% effective rate on gross consideration and to verify whether correct tax and interest have been paid. The movable/immovable character of the contracts was left open.
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Suspension of GST registration quashed; cancellation notice to be decided allowing regularisation and revival under established guidelines.
Case-Laws
GST
Suspension of a proprietor's GST registration imposed via Form GST Reg-17 from 27.02.2026 was quashed as unwarranted, while the underlying show cause notice proposing cancellation remains extant; the authority is directed to decide that notice by affording the taxpayer an opportunity to regularise defaults and by applying the procedural conditions and safeguards set out in Tvl. Suguna Cut Piece Center, including considerations for revival subject to those guidelines. The writ petition is disposed by removing the suspended status and remanding the cancellation decision for reconsideration under the stated principles.
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Retroactive GST registration cancellation invalid; revival permitted only upon compliance with prescribed conditions and safeguards.
Case-Laws
GST
Validity of a show cause notice proposing retroactive cancellation of GST registration was examined; the High Court held that retroactive cancellation from 01.07.2017 as proposed in Form GST Reg-17 could not be sustained and that portion of the notice is quashed. The Court directed respondents to adjudicate the notice afresh and permitted revival of registration only by following precedent-based safeguards, including filing of returns, payment of tax, interest, fines and fees, restricted utilization of input tax credit until scrutiny, and other regularisation conditions to prevent misuse.
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Double penalisation: general penalty barred where concessional late fee is levied; bank attachment lifted on payment.
Case-Laws
GST
Where a concessional late fee has been levied for delayed filing of annual returns, a separate general penalty cannot be imposed in addition; the article explains that the court applied the principle against double penalisation to quash imposition of a Section 125 general penalty while upholding liability for the late fee under the late-fee regime. It further records that attachment of bank accounts may be conditionally lifted provided the confirmed outstanding late fee is paid within the period directed, affecting enforcement against non-filers of annual GSTR returns.
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Tariff classification of soaps determines GST rate; toilet soaps attract concessional rate, other soaps higher rate.
Case-Laws
GST
Tariff classification under the HSN determines whether a soap is a 'toilet soap' or an 'other (laundry) soap' and thereby fixes the applicable GST rate; HSN headings and chapter/first-schedule interpretation rules govern classification rather than compositional metrics like TFM when the tariff/notification contains no compositional criterion. Goods for toilet use fall under H.S. Code 3401 11 (toilet soap) and attract the concessional Schedule I rate, while other soaps fall under H.S. Code 3401 19 (including 3401 19 42 for laundry soaps) and attract the Schedule II rate. The advance ruling applies these principles to the applicant's products.
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