HANDLING OF FIRST STAGE APPEAL MADE BY THE TAXPAYER - Handbook of GST Law & Procedures (CBIC) [October 2024] - GST

5. HANDLING OF FIRST STAGE APPEAL MADE BY THE TAXPAYER 5.1. All decisions to file an appeal or to accept an order by the adjudicating authorities are taken at Headquarters of the Commissionerate, therefore, it is imperative upon the officers working in Appeal/ Review/ Legal Sections in the Headquarters to understand the need of urgency in appeal matter and act swiftly. 5.2. It is desirable that the Inspectors/ Superintendents, working in Appeal/ Review/ Legal sections, maintain register/s, which should contain the details available in the order, such as Name address of the taxpayer, Designation of adjudicating authority, SCN number date, OIO number date, amount involved, date of receipt of order in HO, issue in brief last date for filing of appeal. These details can be filled up immediately on receipt of the order in original. 5.3. Division office, Range Office and all concerned sections in the Commissionerate should send copies (either in physical or digital form) of SCN, taxpayers submissions, etc., as a matter of rule, so that no delay is caused in assimilating these vital documents. 5.4. The file shall be processed at the earliest by the officers, and put up to the next level, so as to make it available to the Proper Officer , at the earliest, for considering the merits of the case. Proposals/ suggestions, with regard to the next course of action should be logical, legal and keeping in mind the judicial pronouncements. 5.5. As soon as a decision is made about future course of action, an entry should be made in the register , as to whether the order has been accepted or is proposed to be appealed against. If it is decided to appeal against the order, the concerned section should be asked to immediately digitalize all the original documents specially the relied upon documents so that, the same could be presented before the forum, where it is being put up, in case need so arises. History of several failed appeals in past, has the ingredient of non-availability of original documents. A note should also be kept on the file, regarding the location of such digital records, so that, it can be easily traced when needed, and without any delay. 5.6. The officers in the section, should monitor, the process of filing appeal and as soon as the appeal is filed, make an entry in the register , showing the forum at which appeal is filed and date of filing of appeal. 5.7. Information from the taxpayer about having challenged an order, is accompanied by a copy of appeal. Immediately on receipt of a copy of the appeal, the officer concerned is required to conduct a primary check of date of filing of appeal date of receipt of the order appealed against. If the appeal is time barred, it should be checked if any application has been filed by the taxpayer for condonation of delay. If not, then the appellate authority should be informed immediately about the delay, which will render the appeal liable for rejection. 5.8. The officer concerned should also go through the contents of the appeals, especially the section containing facts of the case and if there is any misrepresentation of the facts, it should be categorically brought to the notice of the appellate authority. 5.9. At times, it is seen that some of the decisions of Tribunal, High Courts Supreme Court are reversed at later stage. Therefore, case laws relied by the taxpayer in their appeal should be checked out to examine, understand and come to a conclusion as to whether those are still effective or have been ruled out by the Courts. Many a times, the courts have conflicting views of same matter. The taxpayer and their legal luminaries will rely only on such pronouncements which are in their favour. It is for the departmental officers to point out pronouncements which are in favour of department, so that, such orders can also be brought to the notice of the appellate authority, which will help in fair analysis of the situation and correct legal pronouncements. 5.10. If the decision in first stage appeal is against the department, similar exercise, which was carried out at the time of processing of file for first stage appeal, needs to be carried out with due approval of the competent authority.