Section 95 defines the terms of the advance ruling scheme. An advance ruling is a binding answer, given in advance, to specified questions about a supply that the applicant is making or proposes to make.
Key points
- Under section 95(a) of the CGST Act, 2017 an "advance ruling" is a decision of the Authority or the Appellate Authority on the questions in section 97(2) or 100(1), in relation to a supply being undertaken or proposed to be undertaken by the applicant.
- An "applicant" is any person registered or desirous of obtaining registration (section 95(c)).
- The Authority and Appellate Authority are those constituted under the State or UT GST Act (sections 96 and 99).
The provisions
95Definitions
Statutory text
In this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "advance ruling" means a decision provided by the Authority or the Appellate Authority 1[or the National Appellate Authority] to an applicant on matters or on questions specified in sub-section (2) of section 97 or sub-section (1) of section 1002[or of section 101C], in relation to the supply of goods or services or both being undertaken or proposed to be undertaken by the applicant;
(b) "Appellate Authority" means the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling referred to in section 99;
(c) "applicant" means any person registered or desirous of obtaining registration under this Act;
(d) " application" means an application made to the Authority under sub-section (1) of section 97;
(e) "Authority" means the Authority for Advance Ruling referred to in section 96;
3[(f) "National Appellate Authority" means the National Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling referred to in section 101A]
*Enforced w.e.f. 1st July, 2017.
1. Inserted by s. 104 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019. This amendment shall be effective from a date to be notified.
2. Inserted by s. 104 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019. This amendment shall be effective from a date to be notified.
3. Inserted by s. 104 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019. This amendment shall be effective from a date to be notified.
The National Appellate Authority provisions (sections 101A to 101C and the related amendments to sections 95 and 102 to 106) were enacted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019, and the CBIC text still records them as effective "from a date to be notified". No National Appellate Authority has been constituted. Instead, section 101A(1A), inserted by the Finance Act, 2026 from 01.04.2026, lets the Government notify an existing authority, including a Tribunal, to act in its place; by a notification of 07.05.2026, effective 01.04.2026, the Principal Bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal was so designated. Check the current notifications before relying on an appeal under section 101B.
Statutory text as published on the CBIC tax information portal, as on 03.10.2026; the numbered notes record each amendment. Official source
Common questions
- Who can apply for a GST advance ruling?
- Any person registered, or seeking registration, under the CGST Act (section 95(c)), on questions in section 97(2) about a supply it is making or proposes to make.
Commentary and case notes checked against the judgments and CBIC sources on 04.10.2026.
What it means
A ruling is sought on the applicant's own supply or receipt, actual or proposed, not on a hypothetical question, and the questions are limited to those in section 97(2). Whether a recipient may ask how its supplier's supply is taxed is not uniform; the Calcutta High Court in Anmol Industries (2023) required such an application by a registered recipient to be decided on merits (see section 97).