Under the section 73/74 framework displayed in the cited Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act text, an order for tax not paid or short paid, an erroneous refund, or wrongly availed or utilised input tax credit must generally be issued within three years (section 73, where fraud is not alleged) or five years (section 74, where fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression to evade tax is alleged). The period normally runs from the statutory due date for the relevant financial year’s annual return, or from the date of an erroneous refund. A taxpayer’s first appeal is ordinarily due within three months from communication of the order, with a possible further month for sufficient cause.
Those are framework periods, not an automatic answer for every file. The notice’s section, the relevant tax period, annual-return due date, refund date, court or Tribunal stays, remand directions, amendments and proof of communication can all change the calculation. The CBIC Act page used for these figures may not be a fully consolidated version, and the text, commencement and transition rules for section 74A are not established here. Check the current CGST Act and the applicable State or Union Territory GST Act before relying on a date in a live dispute.
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Which GST provision controls the order deadline?
Start with the statutory section cited in the show-cause notice (SCN). The section determines both the outer limit for the adjudication order and how far in advance the SCN had to be served. The framework below is taken from CBIC’s published Act text; use the linked official page to check the wording applicable to your period: CGST Act, sections 73–75 and 107.
| Issue | Section 73 framework | Section 74 framework |
|---|---|---|
| When used | Tax short-paid or unpaid, erroneous refund, or wrongly availed/utilised input tax credit for a reason other than fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression to evade tax | Tax short-paid or unpaid, erroneous refund, or wrongly availed/utilised input tax credit involving fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression to evade tax |
| Order limitation | Three years from the due date for furnishing the annual return for the relevant financial year; for an erroneous refund, three years from the refund date | Five years from the due date for furnishing the annual return for the relevant financial year; for an erroneous refund, five years from the refund date |
| Minimum SCN lead time | At least three months before the applicable order limit | At least six months before the applicable order limit |
| Payment within 30 days of SCN | Tax and interest paid within 30 days: no penalty under this route and proceedings for the notice are deemed concluded, subject to the statutory conditions | Tax, interest and 25% penalty paid within 30 days: proceedings are deemed concluded |
| Payment within 30 days of order communication | The cited section 73 excerpt does not provide the same specific reduced-penalty settlement described for section 74 | Tax, interest and 50% penalty paid within 30 days: proceedings are deemed concluded |
The longer section 74 period is tied to the allegation in that proceeding. It does not give the department five years for every penalty or demand merely because a notice exists.
How to identify the date from which time is counted
Annual-return based cases
For an ordinary section 73 or 74 demand, locate the statutory due date for the annual return for the relevant financial year. Count three years from that date for the section 73 framework or five years for section 74. An extension of the annual-return due date can therefore move the starting point; use the due date that legally applied to that financial year, not simply the date on which the taxpayer eventually filed.
The relevant financial year is the year to which the unpaid tax, credit or refund relates. A notice covering several years may have a different limitation date for each year, so calculate each period separately rather than using the latest year for the whole notice.
Erroneous-refund cases
Where the issue is an erroneous refund, the cited provisions count from the date the refund was made. Apply the three-year or five-year period to that date, depending on the section invoked. Keep the refund order, payment record and bank or electronic-credit evidence: a dispute about the refund date can become a limitation dispute.
What the notice lead time means
Section 73(2), as displayed in the cited text, requires the SCN at least three months before the section 73 order limit. Section 74(2) requires at least six months before the section 74 limit. These are minimum lead times for issuing the notice; they do not extend the final order period by themselves. Compare the SCN service date with the calculated outer limit and preserve proof of service.
An SCN that arrives close to the end of the period is not automatically valid or invalid from the calendar alone. Check the exact statutory trigger, any excluded stay period, the allegations actually made, and amendments or transitional provisions applicable to the tax period.
How penalties are determined and when payment can close proceedings
Section 73
Under section 73(9) in the cited Act text, the officer determines tax, interest and a penalty of 10% of the tax or ₹10,000, whichever is higher. If the taxpayer pays tax and interest within 30 days of the SCN, the section 73 route described in the text provides for no penalty and treats the notice proceedings as concluded, subject to the statutory wording and payment conditions.
Section 74
Section 74(1) describes a penalty equal to the tax. The same provisions create reduced-penalty closure opportunities: payment of tax, interest and 25% penalty within 30 days of the SCN concludes the proceedings, while payment of tax, interest and 50% penalty within 30 days of communication of the order also concludes them. Match the payment to the correct notice or order and retain the challan and electronic liability-ledger entries.
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No duplicate penalty for the same act
Section 75(13) says that when a penalty for the same act or omission is imposed on the same person under section 73 or 74, another penalty for that same act or omission should not be imposed under another provision of the CGST Act. That protection does not erase tax or interest and does not prevent penalties for genuinely different acts.
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What can extend or exclude the limitation period?
Court or Appellate Tribunal stays
Section 75(1) excludes the time during which service of the notice or issuance of the order is stayed by a court or an Appellate Tribunal. Identify the exact start and end of the stay and what it restrained. A stay of one procedural step is not automatically a stay of every part of the proceeding; calculate only the period covered by the order.
Appellate decisions under further appeal
Section 75(11) provides for certain exclusions where specified appellate decisions are under further appeal. The exclusion depends on the statutory conditions and the particular appellate orders. Keep every appeal, remand and further-appeal order with its communication date before recalculating the deadline.
Orders made after a remand or direction
When an Appellate Authority, Appellate Tribunal or court directs a fresh order, section 75(3) requires the order pursuant to that direction within two years from communication of the direction. This is a separate rule from the original section 73 or 74 limitation. Confirm whether the later document is truly an order pursuant to a direction and identify the date the direction was communicated.
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Effect of missing the statutory period
Section 75(10) treats adjudication as concluded when an order is not issued within the applicable section 73 or section 74 period. Do not assume that a late order becomes valid because the SCN was timely; compare the order date with the correctly adjusted limitation date, including lawful exclusions.
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What happens if a section 74 fraud allegation is not proved?
If an appellate authority, Tribunal or court finds that fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression to evade tax was not established, section 75(2) deems the notice to have been issued under section 73. CBIC Circular No. 185/17/2022-GST explains that the section 73 limitation remains material. A matter that is already outside the section 73 period must be dropped rather than revived through an automatic reclassification.
This rule means that a five-year section 74 allegation is not a guaranteed fallback. When challenging the allegation, calculate the three-year section 73 deadline at the same time and preserve evidence of the annual-return due date or refund date.
How long do you have to appeal a GST demand or penalty order?
First appeal to the Appellate Authority
Section 107(1) generally gives a person aggrieved by an adjudicating authority’s decision or order three months from the date the order is communicated to file an appeal. The Appellate Authority may allow a further one month if satisfied that sufficient cause prevented filing during the ordinary period. The extension is discretionary and is not an automatic fourth month.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesBecause the clock runs from communication, record the date and method of service: portal posting, email, physical delivery or another legally recognised channel. Save the complete order, covering letter, portal download and delivery logs. If the order was sent to an incorrect address or was not accessible, that fact may matter, but it should be raised with evidence rather than assumed.
Filing form and supporting documents
CBIC’s Appeal-Rules page describes FORM GST APL-01 and the requirement to submit a hard copy with the certified decision or order and supporting documents within seven days after filing. Portal procedures can change, so confirm the currently applicable electronic workflow, acknowledgement and document requirements when you file.
- Identify the communication date shown by the portal or service record.
- Calculate the three-month ordinary deadline and diarise the final day, allowing for the applicable computation rules.
- If filing late, prepare the sufficient-cause explanation and supporting evidence for the possible one-month condonation period.
- File FORM GST APL-01 through the current portal workflow, pay the required pre-deposit shown for the appeal, and save the acknowledgement.
- Deliver the certified order and supporting papers within the period specified by the current appeal rules, currently described by CBIC as seven days after filing.
Tribunal appeals are different
The Act also contains a department review/application route and an appeal path to the Appellate Tribunal. The tribunal limitation provisions and their current commencement and application are not established by the sources used here. Do not import the taxpayer’s section 107 three-month period into a Tribunal matter; check the provision and commencement notification governing that appeal.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is there a special waiver for older section 73 demands?
CBIC Circular No. 238/32/2024-GST explains relief under section 128A for specified section 73 demands relating to July 2017 through March 2020. The circular states that applications were generally to be made within three months from 31 March 2025. It also describes a six-month window from communication of a redetermination order for certain section 74 cases redirected to section 73 under section 75(2).
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A practical method for calculating your deadline
- Read the SCN heading and charging paragraphs. Note whether it invokes section 73, section 74, another provision, or a combination for different periods.
- Split the demand by financial year and issue. Record tax, input tax credit and erroneous-refund components separately.
- For each component, identify the trigger. Use the statutory annual-return due date for that financial year, or the actual erroneous-refund date where that rule applies.
- Apply the framework period. Add three years for the section 73 framework or five years for section 74, then check whether an amendment or transition rule changes the result.
- Check the SCN lead time. Compare service with the three-month section 73 or six-month section 74 minimum.
- List exclusions. Mark every court or Tribunal stay, qualifying further appeal and any remand direction, with start and end dates.
- Set the appeal diary. Use the order’s communication date, not merely the date printed on the order, for the three-month section 107 period and possible one-month condonation request.
- Verify the law in force. Confirm the current consolidated CGST Act and the applicable State or Union Territory Act for the tax period before taking a limitation objection or making payment.
Common deadline mistakes
- Counting from the filing date of the annual return: the cited sections refer to the statutory due date, which may differ from the date actually filed.
- Using five years for every notice: section 74’s longer period is connected to a fraud, wilful-misstatement or suppression allegation.
- Ignoring erroneous-refund treatment: that calculation starts from the refund date in the cited framework.
- Assuming a stay adds time without reading it: only the period and procedural act covered by section 75(1) are excluded.
- Waiting for a hard-copy order before appealing: communication can occur through the GST portal or another recognised method, so monitor the account and preserve the timestamp.
- Treating the extra appeal month as automatic: the authority must be satisfied that sufficient cause prevented timely filing.
- Relying on an old Act webpage without checking amendments: the cited CBIC page is not demonstrated to be fully consolidated for every current tax period.
Current-law and State/Union Territory checks
The figures above describe the section 73/74 framework shown on the cited CBIC page. That page may not contain every later amendment. In particular, the text, commencement date and transitional scope of section 74A are not established here. For newer periods, verify the current official consolidated CGST legislation and any commencement notification before choosing a limitation section.
GST administration also involves the relevant State or Union Territory enactment. A case-specific calculation should therefore match the tax period, the authority that issued the order, the applicable State or Union Territory law, and any notification extending or excluding time. Keep a written calculation that shows every trigger date, exclusion and communication date so the taxpayer, adviser and appellate authority can test the same arithmetic.
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