Centre Extends GSTAT Appeal Deadline To July 31 For Legacy GST Orders

The Centre has extended the deadline for filing legacy appeals before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) by a month, giving taxpayers until July 31, 2026, to file appeals against orders communicated before May 1, 2026.

The extension replaces the earlier June 30 deadline and has been notified by the Ministry of Finance.

Under the revised timeline, departmental applications in respect of orders passed before February 1, 2026, can also be filed until July 31. Appeals against orders communicated on or after May 1, 2026, and departmental applications relating to orders passed on or after February 1, 2026, will continue to be governed by the normal limitation periods prescribed under Section 112 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act.

The government said the extension was granted after receiving representations from various stakeholders highlighting technical difficulties caused by the rush to file appeals on the GSTAT portal.

It said nearly 30,000 appeals were filed in the last 15 days, with daily filings peaking at around 5,500 appeals. Taxpayers have also been advised to file their appeals well before the revised deadline instead of waiting until the last day.

The extension comes days after the GSTAT Bar Association, Delhi, moved the Delhi High Court seeking an extension of the June 30 deadline. The association argued that although the tribunal became operational in Delhi on April 2, 2026, the e-filing procedure was formally explained to stakeholders only on June 15.

It said this effectively left taxpayers with only about 15 days to file appeals that had accumulated over several years.

On June 24, a vacation bench of Justices Mini Pushkarna and Vinod Kumar issued notice to the Union government and the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) on the plea.

The court, however, declined to grant interim relief. It directed the respondents to file their replies and listed the matter before the roster bench on July 27.

The notification supersedes the earlier notification dated September 17, 2025, which had fixed June 30, 2026, as the deadline for filing legacy appeals before the GSTAT. It also expands the one-time filing window to cover appeals against orders communicated before May 1, 2026, instead of the earlier cut-off of April 1, 2026.