An appeal against a GST order is filed before the Appellate Authority — usually the Joint Commissioner (Appeals) or the Commissioner (Appeals) — in Form GST APL-01 on the GST portal. You file within the time Section 107 of the CGST Act 2017 allows from the date the order was communicated to you, pay the pre-deposit the Act prescribes, and attach the order, your grounds of appeal and a statement of facts. The Authority hears you and passes a fresh order in Form GST APL-04.
Before you start
Nothing stalls an appeal faster than an incomplete file. Assemble these before you open the portal:
- The copy of the order you are challenging, with proof of the date it was served on you. This is the document that starts the clock — the appeal period runs from communication, not from the date printed on the order.
- Your registration certificate and GSTIN, and the login from which the appeal will be filed. The appeal must be filed by the registered person or an authorised representative; a branch cannot file it separately.
- The demand broken into tax, interest and penalty, so you can separate the part you admit from the part you dispute. The pre-deposit is worked out on the disputed tax, so a vague figure in your own file leads to a short pre-deposit and a rejected appeal.
- The returns, ledgers and invoices for the tax periods covered by the order. These are what you cite in the grounds and produce if the Authority asks for reconciliation.
- Funds in your electronic cash ledger. The pre-deposit must be paid in cash; it cannot be met from the input tax credit balance, which is a common reason an appeal is not accepted.
Steps
- 1. Fix the last date. Under Section 107 CGST Act 2017 the appeal is filed within the period the Act allows from communication of the order, and the Appellate Authority may condone a further period where sufficient cause is shown. Write the date of receipt on the order the day it reaches you.
- 2. Open the appeal form. Log in to the GST portal, go to the services menu and choose the application to the Appellate Authority. The form opens only for orders that are appealable; if a dropdown does not show your order, check whether it was passed by the proper officer or by the Authority itself.
- 3. Enter the order details. Key in the order number, order date, the section under which it was passed and the tax period. A mismatch between the order number you type and the order you upload is caught by the portal and returned.
- 4. Choose the category. State whether you are appealing the order itself, and whether you want a personal hearing. Ask for a hearing where the facts are disputed; a paper appeal rarely succeeds on questions of intent.
- 5. Upload the order. Attach the copy of the order as the supporting document. The portal checks file name, format and size, so keep a clean PDF of the order and its annexures.
- 6. Fill the grounds of appeal and the statement of facts. The statement of facts is a neutral chronology — what was supplied, what was reported, what the officer proposed and what he concluded. The grounds are your legal arguments, issue by issue. Do not repeat the statement in the grounds.
- 7. State the amounts. Show the admitted liability and the disputed amount separately. The pre-deposit is calculated against the disputed tax, so the split decides how much you pay now.
- 8. Pay the pre-deposit. Generate the payment from the electronic cash ledger so the debit reflects against the appeal. Keep the challan and the ledger entry. An appeal submitted without the pre-deposit being credited is not treated as filed.
- 9. Submit and verify. Submit the form, verify it with the digital signature or electronic verification code of the authorised signatory, and save the acknowledgement reference number. From that moment you can track the appeal on the portal.
- 10. Attend the hearing and watch for the order. The Authority issues a notice of hearing, takes up your submissions and disposes of the appeal by a reasoned order. A fresh ground that was not in the grounds of appeal can be raised, but say so before the hearing so the officer is not taken by surprise.
Documents to keep
- The acknowledgement carrying the ARN, and a copy of the submitted APL-01 with the grounds and statement of facts exactly as filed.
- The order under appeal, its service proof, and the speed-post or email record showing the date of communication.
- Proof of the pre-deposit — the challan and the electronic cash ledger extract.
- The notice of personal hearing and any adjournment request, with its acknowledgement.
- The final order in Form GST APL-04 once received, with the date it is served, which is the date from which any further remedy runs.
What goes wrong
- Filing beyond limitation with no application for condonation. Where delay is likely, file a separate written application setting out the days of delay and the cause, along with the appeal, not after it.
- Paying the pre-deposit from the credit ledger. Cash is required, and a credit-ledger debit does not discharge the condition.
- Leaving the grounds generic — "the order is bad in law" without saying which finding is wrong and why. The Authority decides on the record you file.
- Uploading an illegible or incomplete order, so the officer cannot match the details you typed.
- Filing against an order the Act does not make appealable to this Authority, which burns the limitation period for the correct remedy.
Common questions
Which orders can be appealed before the Commissioner (Appeals)?
Orders passed by an adjudicating authority under the CGST Act are generally appealable under Section 107, except those the Act specifically excludes. Where the order was passed by the Commissioner or the Board itself, the route and the limitation are different, so confirm the passing authority before choosing the form.
Can I file the appeal if I cannot pay the pre-deposit now?
No. The pre-deposit is a condition for the appeal to be entertained. If cash is tight, the practical step is to compute the disputed tax correctly so the pre-deposit is no larger than the Act requires, and not to treat the admitted part as disputed.
What if I miss the deadline?
File at once with a condonation application. The Authority may condone delay for a further period on sufficient cause being shown, but that power is discretionary and the explanation must be specific and supported by documents.
Do I have to appear in person for the hearing?
You may appear through an authorised representative. Attendance is normally expected, and if you cannot attend, seek an adjournment in writing before the date rather than staying away and leaving the appeal to be decided on the record alone.
The appeal stage sits on top of the paperwork that came before it, and the same desk handles both; the wider range of services we provide covers the underlying filings.
FileX Advocates & Legal Consultants, Kolkata, drafts GST appeals, replies and support statements for matters before the appellate authorities and the tribunals. Call +91 7439811422 or WhatsApp us for a first consultation. For the wider range of filings we handle, see our GST and tax law services and the tax and regulatory formats section.