Jose Joseph Vs Assistant Commissioner of Central Tax And Central Excise (Kerala High Court)
GST Limitation Period Linked to Portal Upload, Rules Kerala High Court – Kerala High Court Clarifies GST Appeal Limitation Period
The Kerala High Court recently addressed a significant issue concerning the limitation period for filing GST appeals. The judgment emphasized that the limitation period under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, begins only after the adjudication order is uploaded on the GST portal.
The case involved four writ petitions filed by Jose Joseph, who challenged the rejection of his GST refund appeals on the grounds of delay. These appeals pertained to the refund of unutilized input tax credit for the months of July to October 2017.
Background of the Case
The petitioner, Jose Joseph, claimed that the adjudication orders rejecting his refund applications were not uploaded on the GST portal, a mandatory step for filing electronic appeals. The petitioner stated that he received a physical copy of the orders on April 10, 2019. Due to this delay, he filed his appeals manually in January 2020, resulting in a delay of 184 days.
The appellate authority dismissed the appeals, arguing that the limitation period began with the physical receipt of the order. Under Section 107(1) of the CGST Act, appeals must be filed within three months, with an additional one-month grace period for condonation. The authority held that the appeals were time-barred as they were filed beyond this condonable period.
