The Appeal Ladder: Who Hears What, and When

A person who receives an adverse GST order usually asks two questions: where does the challenge go, and how long is there to take it there. Each rung of the ladder has its own forum, its own clock and, at the first two rungs, its own payment. A mistake about which rung comes next costs more than a weak argument on the merits. A late appeal, or one filed without the pre-deposit, is not heard at all.

This guide maps the ladder from the first appeal to the Supreme Court. It also maps the two side routes, revision and advance rulings, and the orders that cannot be appealed. Each step has its own guide in this set, linked below. The conceptual background is in Appeals and Pre-Deposit.

The ladder at a glance

Rung	Who hears it	Provision	Time limit	Payment to file
First appeal	Appellate Authority	Section 107	3 months from communication, plus 1 month for sufficient cause	Admitted amount in full, plus 10 per cent of the disputed tax
Department’s application	Appellate Authority	Section 107(2) and (3)	6 months from communication, plus 1 month	None
Revision	Revisional Authority	Section 108	Not after 3 years from the order	None
Second appeal	GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)	Section 112	3 months from communication, plus 3 months for sufficient cause	Admitted amount, plus a further 10 per cent of the disputed tax
Appeal from a State Bench	High Court	Section 117	180 days from receipt of the order; the High Court may admit later for sufficient cause	None under the Act
Appeal from the Principal Bench, or from the High Court on a certificate	Supreme Court	Section 118	No period in the section; section 118(2) applies the Code of Civil Procedure	None under the Act

Rung one: the Appellate Authority

Section 107(1) gives the first appeal to “any person aggrieved by any decision or order passed under this Act or the State Goods and Services Tax Act or the Union Territory Goods and Services Tax Act by an adjudicating authority”. One appeal covers the central and the State tax in the same order.

Not every authority is an “adjudicating authority”. Section 2(4) excludes, among others, the Revisional Authority, the Authority and the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling, the Appellate Authority itself and the Appellate Tribunal. Their orders are challenged by the routes set out further down, not under section 107.

Who the Appellate Authority is. For orders of central tax officers, rule 109A of the CGST Rules decides it by the rank of the officer who passed the order:

• an order of an Additional or Joint Commissioner goes to the Commissioner (Appeals)
• an order of a Deputy or Assistant Commissioner or a Superintendent goes to “any officer not below the rank of Joint Commissioner (Appeals)”

Central or State. Under section 6(3), an appeal against an order of an officer appointed under the CGST Act “shall not lie before an officer appointed under the State Goods and Services Tax Act”. An order passed by a State tax officer is appealed within the State administration, to the Appellate Authority designated under the State Act and rules. The person appeals to the administration that passed the order, whichever tax the order covers.

DGGI cases. Notices issued by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence are adjudicated by a Common Adjudicating Authority. Circular No. 250/07/2025-GST (24 June 2025) states that an appeal against its order lies before the Commissioner (Appeals) with territorial jurisdiction over the Commissionerate where that authority is posted.

The procedure is in three guides: Filing a First Appeal: APL-01, Pre-Deposit, and the Stay of Recovery and The First Appeal Hearing and Order: APL-04.

The department’s routes: review and revision

The department does not appeal in the ordinary way. Under section 107(2), the Commissioner may examine an order “for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality or propriety” of it and direct an officer to apply to the Appellate Authority within six months. That application is heard as if it were an appeal (section 107(3)). It is filed in FORM GST APL-03 under rule 109. See When the Department Appeals: Review Orders and APL-03.

Revision under section 108 is a separate, supervisory power. The Revisional Authority may revise an order of a subordinate officer that is “erroneous in so far as it is prejudicial to the interest of revenue”, after a hearing. Section 108(2) bars revision in four cases:

• where the order has been appealed under section 107, 112, 117 or 118
• where the six-month period under section 107(2) has not expired
• where more than three years have passed since the order
• where the order has already been revised

A proviso allows revision on a point “not raised and decided” in an appeal. See Revision: Section 108.

Rung two: the Appellate Tribunal

An order of the Appellate Authority, or of the Revisional Authority, is appealed to the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal under section 112. Section 109 constitutes a Principal Bench at New Delhi and State Benches. The Tribunal’s own site states that it has 31 State Benches, sitting at 44 locations, and takes appeals through its e-filing portal.

Three allocation rules decide which bench hears a case:

• “cases in which any one of the issues involved relates to the place of supply, shall be heard only by the Principal Bench” (section 109(5), first proviso)
• anti-profiteering matters under section 171(2) go only to the Principal Bench (second proviso)
• an appeal of up to fifty lakh rupees “which does not involve any question of law” may be heard by a single Member, with the President’s approval. All other appeals are heard by a Judicial Member and a Technical Member together (section 109(8))

Time. The appeal is due within three months of communication of the order. Section 112(6) allows the Tribunal to admit an appeal up to three months late for sufficient cause. The department’s application under section 112(3) has six months from the date the order was passed. The other party may file cross-objections within 45 days of notice of the appeal under section 112(5).

The backlog date has passed. Orders made before the Tribunal began work had their own deadline. Notification S.O. 3502(E) of 30 June 2026 superseded S.O. 4220(E) of 17 September 2025 and fixed 31 July 2026 as the last date for:

• appeals against orders communicated before 1 May 2026
• departmental applications against orders passed before 1 February 2026

Later orders take the ordinary three months, or six months for the department. The Tribunal can admit an appeal up to three months late for sufficient cause under section 112(6), but that power is tied to the period it extends.

Payment. Section 112(8) requires a further ten per cent of the disputed tax, “in addition to the amount paid under sub-section (6) of section 107”. See Appealing to the GST Appellate Tribunal and Before the Tribunal: Hearing, Order and Rectification.

Rungs three and four: the High Court and the Supreme Court

Since 1 August 2023, the route out of the Tribunal depends on which bench decided the case:

• State Bench orders go to the High Court under section 117. The High Court admits the appeal only “if it is satisfied that the case involves a substantial question of law”. The appeal is due within 180 days “from the date on which the order appealed against is received”, and the High Court may admit a later appeal for sufficient cause.
• Principal Bench orders go directly to the Supreme Court under section 118(1)(a).
• High Court judgments under section 117 go to the Supreme Court only if the High Court certifies the case “to be a fit one for appeal” (section 118(1)(b)).

Filing these appeals does not stop recovery. Section 119 makes sums due under the Tribunal’s or High Court’s order “payable in accordance with the order so passed”. Any stay has to come from the court. See Appeals to the High Court and the Supreme Court.

Off the ladder: writs

A High Court may also be approached under Article 226 of the Constitution. A writ petition is not part of the statutory ladder. Courts generally expect the statutory appeal to be used first, subject to recognised exceptions. Those exceptions, and how the period before the Tribunal began work was treated, are in Writ Petitions in GST Matters.

Orders that cannot be appealed

Section 121 provides that “no appeal shall lie” against four kinds of decision by a central tax officer:

1. an order transferring proceedings from one officer to another
2. an order “pertaining to the seizure or retention of books of account, register and other documents”
3. an order sanctioning prosecution
4. an order under section 80, which covers payment of tax in instalments

These orders remain open to challenge by writ.

Advance rulings: a separate ladder

An advance ruling is not an order of an “adjudicating authority”, so section 107 does not apply to it. Its appeal lies to the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling under section 100. Conflicting rulings of different States’ appellate authorities go to the National Appellate Authority under section 101B.

That Authority has not been constituted. Section 101A(1A), inserted from 1 April 2026 by the Finance Act, 2026, allows an existing authority to hear these appeals in the meantime. Notification No. 02/2026-Central Tax (7 May 2026, deemed effective from 1 April 2026) empowers the Principal Bench of the Tribunal to hear appeals under section 101B. The detail, including when these sections took effect, is in Applying for an Advance Ruling and Appealing an Advance Ruling.

When the department does not appeal

Section 120 lets the Board fix monetary limits below which central tax officers do not appeal. Circular No. 207/01/2024-GST (26 June 2024) sets them at Rs 20,00,000 for the Tribunal, Rs 1,00,00,000 for the High Court and Rs 2,00,00,000 for the Supreme Court. Where tax is in dispute, the limit is applied to the tax alone, not to interest or penalty. The circular lists exceptions. Under section 120(3), a party cannot argue that the department “has acquiesced in the decision” because it did not appeal under these limits.

After the ladder: getting money back, and the 128A waiver

Where an appeal succeeds, the pre-deposit is refunded with interest under section 115. See Getting the Pre-Deposit Back.

A person who settled a demand for 2017-18 to 2019-20 under the waiver in section 128A gave up the appeal against that demand. See The Section 128A Waiver, and Appeals Withdrawn Under It.

Changes recommended, not yet law

At its 57th meeting on 8 October 2026, the GST Council recommended several changes affecting appeals:

• a cap of Rs 40 crore (Rs 20 crore each under the CGST and SGST or UTGST Acts) on the pre-deposit for penalty-only orders, by amending the provisos to sections 107(6) and 112(8)
• a circular on “various issues relating to payment of pre-deposits”
• making section 115 a standalone provision on the rate of interest on refund of pre-deposit
• amendments to align the Tribunal provisions with the Tribunals Reforms Act, 2026

These are recommended, not yet notified. Until the Act is amended, the provisions described above apply.

What to have ready at any rung

Item	Where it comes from
The order under challenge, with annexures and its summary (DRC-07, APL-04 or APL-04A)	The portal, or the Tribunal’s portal
The date the order was communicated, and how	Portal records; email; postal record
The rank of the officer who passed it, and whether a central or State officer	The order itself
The amounts admitted and disputed, split into tax, interest, penalty and fee	The order; the person’s own working
Pre-deposits already paid at earlier rungs	Electronic liability register; payment records

Climbing the ladder, in order

1. Identify the order and the officer who passed it. That fixes the Appellate Authority: central or State, Commissioner (Appeals) or Joint Commissioner (Appeals).
2. Check the order is appealable. It must come from an adjudicating authority and fall outside section 121.
3. Note the date of communication. Three months run from it, with one more month only for sufficient cause.
4. Pay the admitted amount and ten per cent of the disputed tax, then file APL-01.
5. After the Appellate Authority’s order, check the bench and the three-month limit for the Tribunal, and pay the further ten per cent.
6. After the Tribunal’s order, go to the High Court (State Bench) within 180 days on a substantial question of law, or to the Supreme Court (Principal Bench).
7. Where an appeal succeeds, claim the pre-deposit back with interest.

The next guide covers filing the first appeal: FORM GST APL-01 on the portal, the time limit and its strict outer edge, and the acknowledgement that fixes the date of filing.