Published 14 October 2026
For eight years the second appeal in GST existed only on paper. Orders of Appellate Authorities piled up with no Tribunal to hear them. Taxpayers kept recovery at bay through a circular, and the time to appeal was frozen by a removal of difficulties order. That has changed. The Tribunal is constituted, its benches sit, and the date set for the backlog has passed. An appeal now has to be filed on a separate portal, in a revised form, with a further pre-deposit and a fee, and before the right bench. This guide covers each of those steps.
The law of the second appeal is summarised in Appeals and Pre-Deposit. What happens after filing is in Before the Tribunal: Hearing, Order and Rectification.
The Tribunal, its benches, and when it began
Section 109, substituted by the Finance Act, 2023 from 1 August 2023, provides for a Principal Bench at New Delhi and State Benches. The Principal Bench consists of the President, a Judicial Member, a Technical Member (Centre) and a Technical Member (State). Each State Bench has two Judicial Members, a Technical Member (Centre) and a Technical Member (State). Under section 109(8), an appeal is heard by one Judicial Member and one Technical Member, unless it is a single-member case (below).
The Ministry of Finance’s notification S.O. 3048(E) of 31 July 2024 establishes the Tribunal “with effect from the 1st day of September, 2023”. It constitutes the Principal Bench at New Delhi and 31 State Benches, some with sitting or circuit benches at further locations. It superseded earlier notifications of 14 September 2023 and 29 December 2023.
The dates of operation, from government sources:
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 6 May 2024 | Justice (Retd.) Sanjaya Kumar Mishra takes oath as first President | PIB, 6 May 2024 |
| 24 September 2025 | Tribunal formally launched; e-filing portal unveiled | PIB, 24 September 2025 |
| 11 February 2026 | Earliest order on a section 112 appeal reported in Vol. 1 of the Tribunal’s e-Journal (Principal Bench, Sterling & Wilson). The volume’s anti-profiteering section includes an earlier order of 12 September 2025. | GSTAT e-Journal, Vol. 1 (24 September 2026) |
| 2026 | State Benches begin hearings at different dates; for example the Chennai Bench’s first hearing on 23 June 2026 | PIB, 23 June 2026 |
By Office Order No. 4/GSTAT/PB/2026 of 29 July 2026, the President reconstituted several benches and revised the classification of cases between Category I and Category II benches, from 1 August 2026. The Registry classifies a case on the pleadings. The appellant’s declaration is “one of the relevant factors” and is not conclusive.
Which bench
State Benches hear appeals against orders of Appellate and Revisional Authorities in their territory (section 109(5)).
The Principal Bench alone hears three kinds of case:
- “cases in which any one of the issues involved relates to the place of supply” (first proviso to section 109(5))
- anti-profiteering matters under section 171(2) (second proviso, inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024)
- appeals under section 101B to the National Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling, from 1 April 2026, under Notification No. 02/2026-Central Tax
A single place-of-supply issue among several is enough. FORM GST APL-05 asks at item 7: “Is place of supply involved in the dispute – Yes/No”. FORM GST APL-02A, the Tribunal’s acknowledgement, includes a rejection “due to wrong applicability of place of supply issue”. An example of a place-of-supply appeal decided by the Principal Bench is Dow Chemical International (P.) Ltd. v Commissioner of State Tax (GSTAT, Principal Bench, Appeal Nos. APL 2 to 7 (PB) of 2026, 4 June 2026). There the Tribunal held that procurement services from a Swiss group company were not intermediary services. They were an import of services with the place of supply in India under section 13(2) of the IGST Act.
Single-member cases. Section 109(8) allows an appeal to be heard by a single Member, with the President’s approval, where the tax or credit involved, or the fine, fee or penalty, “does not exceed fifty lakh rupees and which does not involve any question of law”. Rule 110A, inserted from 22 September 2025, sets the procedure:
- the President, or a Vice-President authorised by him, scrutinises the appeal, on his own motion or on a party’s application, and may transfer it to a single-Member Bench in the State
- the single Member sends it back, with reasons, if a question of law emerges
- if the same issue for the same person in the State has already been heard by a two-Member Bench, the appeal goes to a two-Member Bench
- the fifty lakh rupees is “the cumulative tax or input tax credit involved, or the amount of fine, fee or penalty … with reference to all issues and all tax periods covered in the order”
Time limits, and the backlog date
Section 112(1) allows three months from communication of the order, “or the date, as may be notified by the Government, on the recommendations of the Council, for filing appeal before the Appellate Tribunal under this Act, whichever is later”. Section 112(3) gives the department six months from the date the order “has been passed”, with the same alternative. Both alternatives were inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024, with effect from 1 August 2024.
The notified date is now fixed by notification S.O. 3502(E) of 30 June 2026. It superseded S.O. 4220(E) of 17 September 2025, which had fixed 30 June 2026. It notifies “the 31st day of July, 2026” as the last date for:
- appeals where the order was “communicated to the person preferring the appeal before the 1st day of May, 2026”
- departmental applications where the order “is passed before the 1st day of February, 2026”
Orders communicated on or after 1 May 2026 follow the ordinary three months from communication. Departmental applications against orders passed on or after 1 February 2026 follow the ordinary six months from the date of the order. The Government’s press release on the extension recorded that 30,000 appeals were filed in the preceding fifteen days, with daily volumes peaking at 5,500.
Late appeals. Under section 112(6), the Tribunal “may admit an appeal within three months after the expiry of the period referred to in sub-section (1)”, or a departmental application within three months after the period in sub-section (3), “if it is satisfied that there was sufficient cause”. For an order in the backlog, the period in sub-section (1) ended on 31 July 2026, so three further months run from that date. Admission is at the Tribunal’s discretion. A delay application is made as an interlocutory application (below).
The further pre-deposit
Section 112(8) bars an appeal unless the appellant has paid:
- in full, the part of tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty that is admitted
- “a sum equal to ten per cent. of the remaining amount of tax in dispute, in addition to the amount paid under sub-section (6) of section 107”, subject to a maximum of twenty crore rupees
The ten per cent and twenty crore rupees were substituted for twenty per cent and fifty crore rupees by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024, from 1 November 2024. The cap is in the CGST Act, and each State Act carries its own. The Tribunal’s own FAQ still describes the pre-deposit as “20% of the amount of tax in dispute”. That was the figure before 1 November 2024. The Act now says ten per cent.
Penalty-only orders. A proviso inserted by the Finance Act, 2025, in force from 1 October 2025 (Notification No. 16/2025-Central Tax), applies to “any order demanding penalty without involving demand of any tax”. No appeal lies unless “a sum equal to ten per cent. of the said penalty, in addition to the amount payable under the proviso to sub-section (6) of section 107” has been paid. The proviso has no cap.
Two decisions have held the proviso inapplicable to older proceedings, on different footings:
- Reddy Veeranna Constructions Pvt. Ltd. v Appeal-I Commissioner (GSTAT, Hyderabad Bench, APL/623/HYD/2026, 28 July 2026). Penalties under sections 122 and 125 for alleged fake invoicing had been upheld in an order-in-appeal of 12 January 2024. The Registry flagged the missing pre-deposit. The Tribunal held that no pre-deposit was required because the notice (29 September 2022), the original order and the appellate order all preceded 1 October 2025, and the amendment showed no retrospective intent. It followed the Calcutta High Court in Barjinder Singh Kohli (3 November 2025). The order was confined to admission, and the Tribunal reserved the power to require the deposit at the final hearing if it took a different view.
- Gaurav Jain v Joint Commissioner (Appeals-II), CGST Delhi Zone (Delhi High Court, W.P.© 8414/2026, 31 July 2026), on the parallel proviso to section 107(6). The show cause notice was dated 25 June 2025 and the order 16 December 2025. The Court held that the proviso “does not govern the Petitioners’ Appeals arising from the adjudicatory proceedings initiated by the SCN dated 25.06.2025”, taking the date of the notice as decisive.
What was recommended in October 2026. At its 57th meeting on 8 October 2026, the GST Council recommended an upper limit of Rs 40 crore (Rs 20 crore under CGST and Rs 20 crore under SGST or UTGST) on the pre-deposit for penalty-only orders. It also recommended a circular on “various issues relating to payment of pre-deposits”. These are recommended, not yet notified.
Paying it. The pre-deposit is paid on the GST portal, not the Tribunal’s portal. Table 21(b) of the substituted APL-05 records the tax pre-deposit “Paid through Cash/Credit Ledger” with the debit entry number. Interest, penalty and late fee are recorded separately. CBIC’s Circular No. 172/04/2022-GST explains that the electronic credit ledger may be used for “any payment towards output tax, whether self-assessed in the return or payable as a consequence of any proceeding”. It cannot be used for interest, penalty or fees. The Tribunal’s portal fetches the payment from the GST portal. Its advisory says that, once payment is confirmed, the screen shows “Your pre-deposit payment is confirmed. Please proceed for appeal fee payment.”
Stay. Under section 112(9), once the amount in sub-section (8) is paid, “the recovery proceedings for the balance amount shall be deemed to be stayed till the disposal of the appeal”. The detail is in Pre-Deposit, and the Stay of Recovery.
The forms
| Form | Purpose | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| APL-05 | Appeal by the taxpayer (substituted from 22 September 2025) | 110(1) |
| APL-07 | Application by the department under section 112(3) | 111 |
| APL-06 | Memorandum of cross-objections under section 112(5) | 110(2), 111(2) |
| APL-02A | Part A: provisional acknowledgement. Part B: final acknowledgement with registration number, or rejection | 110(1), (4) |
| APL-05/07W | Withdrawal before the Tribunal’s order | 113A |
| GSTAT FORM-01 | Interlocutory applications, such as stay, condonation of delay, early hearing and rectification | GSTAT (Procedure) Rules, rule 29 |
| GSTAT FORM-04 | Memorandum of appearance by an authorised representative | GSTAT (Procedure) Rules, rule 72 |
APL-05 is the form, and the GSTAT portal is where it is filed. Rule 110(1) requires APL-05 “electronically”. Since 22 September 2025 there has been no manual option. The portal generates the APL-05 from the data entered, and shows the “Complete APL-05 form” for confirmation before submission.
APL-05 asks for the order appealed against (the APL-04, or a rejected APL-02), whether place of supply is involved, the date of communication, the original order and its type, the period, the Act, the category of dispute from Annexure B, a case summary, a statement of facts, grounds, a prayer, the demand created, admitted and disputed, and the payments. Its verification includes a declaration that no appeal against the order is pending “before any Court or Authority”.
Filing and the date of filing. Under rule 110(4), where the order appealed against is on the common portal, a final acknowledgement “indicating appeal number” issues in Part B of APL-02A “on removal of defects, if any”. The date of the provisional acknowledgement counts as the date of filing. Where the order is not on the portal, a self-certified copy must be uploaded within seven days, or the date of uploading becomes the date of filing. The Explanation treats the appeal as filed “only when the final acknowledgement, indicating the appeal number, is issued”.
Defects. Under rule 24 of the GSTAT (Procedure) Rules, 2025 (G.S.R. 256(E), 24 April 2025), a defective appeal is returned. If the defects are not cured within seven working days, it goes before the Registrar, who may allow up to thirty days from filing. The Registrar may decline to register an appeal whose defects remain. After a personal hearing, he may list it before the Bench, which may register or reject it.
Separate appeals. Under rule 18(3) of the Procedure Rules, an appeal against an order-in-appeal covering several original orders is filed as many times as there are original orders. Where an order covers several persons, each files separately. Common or joint appeals “shall not be entertained”.
Cross-objections
Section 112(5) lets the party against whom an appeal is filed file a memorandum of cross-objections “within forty-five days of the receipt of notice”, even if it did not appeal itself. The Tribunal disposes of it “as if it were an appeal presented within the time”. Section 112(6) allows a further forty-five days for sufficient cause. It is filed electronically in APL-06. The GSTAT portal’s user manual describes it under “File Reply/Cross Objections” in the Respondent Corner.
Fees
Rule 110(5) fixes the fee for filing or restoring an appeal:
- one thousand rupees for every one lakh rupees of tax, credit, difference in tax or credit, or fine, fee or penalty determined in the order, “subject to a maximum of twenty five thousand rupees and a minimum of five thousand rupees”
- five thousand rupees for an order “not involving any demand of tax, interest, fine, fee or penalty”
Under rule 110(6), an application under section 112(10) for rectification of errors carries no fee. The Schedule of Fees to the GSTAT (Procedure) Rules sets Rs 5,000 for an interlocutory application, Rs 5,000 for inspection of records, and Rs 5,000 for any other application. Under rule 119 of those rules, no fee is payable on an application by a departmental authority.
The fee is paid on the GSTAT portal, online or through Bharatkosh. The Tribunal’s FAQ applies the scale to demand orders and to enforcement orders under section 129. It applies the flat Rs 5,000 to refund, registration and recovery orders, other enforcement orders and other orders. The Tribunal’s advisory says that if an online payment does not show “Success” after 72 hours, the filing will not be blocked and the payment will be reconciled at the back end.
Portal steps
The steps below are from the GSTAT e-filing user manual (version 2.7, 17 June 2025) and the Tribunal’s advisories. The portal is at efiling.gstat.gov.in.
- Register on the GSTAT portal with an authenticated email and mobile number, and upload proof of identity. An authorised representative not on the GST portal registers on the GSTAT portal first.
- Under Appellant Corner, choose Filing, then Appeal Filing, and accept the declaration.
- Enter the ARN or CRN of the order. If available, the order and APL-04 demand details are fetched from the GST portal. If not, they are entered manually.
- Complete the Basic Details (Act and section), Case Details, Appellant, Respondent and Representative tabs.
- In Demand Details, confirm the demand, then the amounts admitted and disputed. Where a higher court has exempted the pre-deposit, or the fetched figure is wrong, enter the exemption or correction and upload the court order or a “Self Calculation Sheet”.
- Pay the pre-deposit on the GST portal. Once confirmed, pay the appeal fee online or record a Bharatkosh payment.
- Upload the appeal, affidavits and annexures as PDF, complete the checklist, and preview the APL-05.
- Submit. The portal issues the provisional acknowledgement in APL-02A Part A with a 16-digit filing number.
- If defects are notified, use the re-filing option, view the defect memo, cure the defects and re-submit.
What to have ready
| Item | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| The order-in-appeal or revision order, its APL-04 summary, and the date of communication | GST portal |
| The original order and its DRC-07, and the notice | GST portal |
| The amounts admitted and disputed, by tax, interest, penalty and Act | The orders; the person’s working |
| Proof of the first-stage pre-deposit and the further ten per cent, with debit entry numbers | GST portal; electronic ledgers |
| Whether any issue concerns place of supply | The orders |
| The grounds of appeal, statement of facts, affidavit and indexed annexures | The person’s own file |
| Authorisation, vakalatnama or memorandum of appearance in GSTAT FORM-04 | Signed by the appellant |
Who signs
Rule 26 governs signing for the appeal and cross-objections (rules 110(3) and 111(3)). Under rule 20(3) of the Procedure Rules, every appeal, application or cross-objection is “signed and verified by the appellant or applicant or respondent or the authorised representative”. Rule 28 requires a person signing for a party to produce the authorisation.
What can still be put right
- An appeal out of time can be admitted within three months after the period ends, for sufficient cause, under section 112(6). Cross-objections have a further forty-five days.
- Defects are cured by re-filing within the time the Registry allows.
- An appeal can be withdrawn in APL-05/07W before the order under section 113(1). After registration, withdrawal needs the Tribunal’s approval, decided within fifteen days. A fresh appeal must still be within the section 112 time limits (rule 113A).
The steps in order
- Check the date of communication of the order. If it was before 1 May 2026, the notified date of 31 July 2026 has passed, and only section 112(6) remains. Otherwise, three months run from communication.
- Decide the bench: the Principal Bench if any issue concerns place of supply, otherwise the State Bench. Note whether the case may qualify for a single Member.
- Work out the admitted amount and the further ten per cent of disputed tax, capped at twenty crore rupees under each Act. For a penalty-only order, work out ten per cent of the penalty, and check whether the proceedings predate 1 October 2025.
- Pay on the GST portal, from the cash ledger or, for tax, the credit ledger.
- File APL-05 on the GSTAT portal with the fee, and obtain APL-02A Part A.
- Cure any defects and obtain APL-02A Part B with the case registration number.
- If served with the other side’s appeal, file cross-objections in APL-06 within forty-five days.
The next guide covers proceedings before the Tribunal: the hearing, adjournments, the order, rectification, and what follows.