The Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), Cuttack Bench, has held that an assessee is not required to make any additional statutory pre-deposit for filing an appeal before the Tribunal where the pre-deposit already made at the first appellate stage exceeds the amount required after the tax demand has been substantially reduced by the First Appellate Authority.
The bench of Suchismita Misra (Judicial Member) and Ranjan Kumar Sahoo (Technical Member) directed the Registry to verify the earlier pre-deposit and list the appeal for admission after payment of the balance court fee.
The principal issue before the Bench was whether the appellant was required to make a fresh statutory pre-deposit under Section 112(8) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, despite having already deposited a significantly higher amount during the first appellate proceedings.
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The dispute originated from a show cause notice issued under Section 73 of the CGST Act alleging excess availment of Input Tax Credit (ITC). According to the notice, the appellant had allegedly claimed excess ITC amounting to ₹5,67,237 each under the Central GST (CGST) and State GST (SGST).
Following adjudication, the tax authorities confirmed the demand along with applicable interest and penalty. Dissatisfied with the order, the taxpayer approached the First Appellate Authority.
The First Appellate Authority granted substantial relief by reducing the liability to: Tax: ₹1,02,012; Interest: ₹98,680; and Penalty: ₹10,202
Aggrieved by the remaining demand, the appellant preferred an appeal before the GST Appellate Tribunal.
At the stage of admission, the Tribunal Registry issued a defect memo stating that the appellant had not made the statutory pre-deposit required under Section 112 of the CGST Act; and the prescribed court fee had not been fully paid.
The appellant accepted that court fees were short by ₹2,000 but disputed the Registry’s objection regarding the pre-deposit.
Counsel for the appellant submitted that while filing the first appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act, the taxpayer had already deposited 10% of the original disputed tax, amounting to ₹1,13,447.
Since the First Appellate Authority had drastically reduced the tax demand to ₹1,02,012, the appellant argued that the statutory pre-deposit required before the Tribunal would ordinarily work out to only ₹10,201, which stood fully covered by the amount already deposited.
Accordingly, insisting upon another pre-deposit would defeat the purpose of the statutory scheme and amount to an unnecessary duplication of payment.
To support the contention, the appellant relied on the decision of the Jharkhand High Court in M/s Ashirwad Food Industries v. Union of India (W.P.(T) No. 469 of 2026).
The High Court held that where the original demand had been substantially reduced by the appellate authority and the taxpayer had already deposited a much higher amount during the first appeal, there was no justification for insisting on an additional pre-deposit before the Tribunal.
After examining Sections 107 and 112 of the CGST Act, the Tribunal observed that Section 112 requires payment of the admitted tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty in full; and 10% of the remaining disputed tax, in addition to the amount deposited under Section 107.
The Bench noted that the original tax demand had already been modified by the First Appellate Authority and the disputed tax surviving in appeal was only ₹1,02,012.
Since the appellant had previously deposited ₹1,13,447, which was significantly more than the statutory requirement applicable after the appellate order, the Tribunal found that the earlier deposit sufficiently satisfied the statutory condition.
The Bench further observed that the ratio laid down by the Jharkhand High Court squarely applied to the present dispute.
Accordingly, it held that no further statutory pre-deposit was required under Section 112 of the CGST Act.
The Tribunal separately dealt with the issue of court fees under Rule 110(5) of the CGST Rules, 2017.
The Registry pointed out that while the minimum prescribed court fee for filing the appeal was ₹5,000, the appellant had paid only ₹3,000, leaving a shortfall of ₹2,000.
The appellant agreed to deposit the balance amount.
The GSTAT directed that after verification of the pre-deposit made during the first appellate proceedings; and payment of the remaining statutory court fee, the Registry shall place the matter before the Bench for orders on admission of the appeal.
The case has been listed for further consideration on 22 July 2026.
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