GST Section 107 appeals — what advocates need to know in 2026

Section 107 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017 (mirrored in State GST Acts and the IGST Act) is the first-appellate remedy against orders passed by adjudicating authorities — assessment, demand, refund-rejection, registration cancellation. Form APL-01 is the appeal memorandum. For working GST counsel in 2026, this is the most-filed appeal under the indirect-tax regime.

What Section 107 covers

An appeal under Section 107 lies against:

Assessment orders under Section 73 (no fraud) or Section 74 (fraud)

Refund-rejection orders under Section 54

Registration-cancellation orders under Section 29

Demand orders under Section 75

Determination of place of supply under Section 9

Other orders specified by the Board

The appeal is to the Appellate Authority — typically the Joint Commissioner of Central Tax (Appeals) or the Additional Commissioner of State Tax (Appeals), depending on the territorial jurisdiction and the originating authority.

Limitation

Section 107(1): appeal must be filed within 3 months from the date of communication of the order under appeal.

Section 107(2) allows the Appellate Authority to condone delay of up to one further month on sufficient cause.

The aggregate maximum is 4 months. After that, the appeal becomes time-barred without remedy at the first-appellate level (writ jurisdiction is the only alternative).

Pre-deposit

Section 107(6) requires:

10% of the disputed tax amount (subject to a maximum of ₹25 crore under CGST + ₹25 crore under SGST) as a pre-condition to the appeal

Disputed tax means the tax amount in dispute — not interest, not penalty

Pre-deposit is paid via Form GST DRC-03

If the appellant accepts and pays a portion of the disputed tax before appeal, the pre-deposit is computed on the balance.

Form APL-01 structure

Form APL-01 (the Appeal Memorandum) requires:

GSTIN, registration details, name of the appellant

Order under appeal — number, date, issuing authority

Period of dispute

Tax / interest / penalty involved

Pre-deposit details — DRC-03 challan reference

Grounds of appeal — the substantive section

Reliefs sought

Verification by the appellant or AR under Rule 113

Drafting note: like ITAT Form 36, keep grounds atomic. One issue per ground. Cross-reference to specific paragraphs of the order under appeal.

Statement of facts and grounds

Most Appellate Authorities expect a separate statement of facts and grounds attached to APL-01:

Statement of facts — chronological narrative: date of assessment notice, date of reply, date of show-cause, date of personal hearing (if any), date of impugned order. Keep to 2-3 pages.

Grounds — legal frame. Issues commonly raised under Section 107:

ITC denial — Section 16(2) conditions, Rule 36(4) restrictions, Section 17(5) blocked credits

Mismatch of GSTR-2A / 2B and GSTR-3B — temporal alignment, Rule 37 conditions

Place of supply disputes under Sections 10-13 IGST Act

Classification disputes — HSN/SAC classification, applicable rate

Limitation under Sections 73/74 — when does the cause of action accrue

Procedural — natural justice, opportunity of hearing, reasoned order

For each, cite the specific section and the relevant judicial precedent.

Filing — Form APL-02 acknowledgement

After Form APL-01 is filed:

The Appellate Authority issues Form APL-02 — the acknowledgement

APL-02 contains a unique reference number for the appeal

The appeal proceeds on the merits

Hearing and order

Section 107(11): the Appellate Authority shall pass the order within one year from the date of filing the appeal, where it is possible to do so. (Note: this is directory, not mandatory; delays are common.)

The order is in Form APL-04 — summary of demand if the appeal is partly or fully dismissed.

Onward appeal — Section 112 GSTAT

If the Section 107 order is adverse, the next remedy is appeal to the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) under Section 112.

GSTAT was constituted under the Tribunals Reforms Act 2021 with the GSTAT Principal Bench at Delhi and State Benches across India. As of 2026, GSTAT benches are operational in major cities; coverage continues to expand.

The Section 112 appeal is filed via Form APL-05 (or APL-06 for cross-objections, APL-07 for the department). Pre-deposit at this stage is 20% of the disputed tax (subject to monetary cap).

For the period before GSTAT became operational (most disputes from 2017-2024), the High Court writ jurisdiction was the de-facto alternative. Many of those matters are now being filed before GSTAT as it comes online.

Common drafting mistakes

Wrong pre-deposit. Computing pre-deposit on the gross demand instead of disputed tax (excluding interest and penalty). Read Section 107(6) carefully.

Late filing without condonation application. Filing Form APL-01 in the 4th month without a separate condonation application is a common dismissal trigger. Always file the condonation application together when in the condonation window.

Conjoint grounds. As with ITAT — keep grounds atomic.

Missing GSTR data. ITC mismatches require GSTR-2A/2B and GSTR-3B for the period. Annex these.

Wrong forum. Section 107 lies against orders by adjudicating authorities. Orders by the Appellate Authority itself go to Section 112 GSTAT. Some appeals get misfiled to the wrong tier.

How CourtNetra handles GST workflow

GST matters in CourtNetra carry the GSTIN, period of dispute, and the section invoked as structured fields. Form APL-01 is pre-built and pre-fills from the matter record. NyayaLens AI surfaces relevant precedent — Bharti Airtel, Phoenix ARC, Suvarna Cooperative Bank, and the latest GSTAT benches' jurisdictional rulings. The hearing-diary digest covers Appellate Authority listings alongside GSTAT once that becomes operational for your matter.

The free templates library at /templates includes the GST APL series (APL-01, APL-02, APL-04, APL-05, APL-06, APL-07) plus the RFD series for refund applications.

The bottom line

Section 107 appeals in 2026 are a high-volume, structured workflow. Limitation (3+1 months), pre-deposit (10% of disputed tax), Form APL-01 with atomic grounds, and atte ntion to common drafting mistakes — that's the working pattern. GSTAT has expanded the second-appellate remedy meaningfully; counsel teams now route Section 107 dismissals to GSTAT rather than the High Court.

CourtNetra implements the GST workflow end-to-end — structured matter records, pre-built templates, AI precedent search, and hearing-diary alerts on Appellate Authority and GSTAT listings.