Revenue Authorities obligated to inform the assessee about the filing of an appeal on wrong GST portal

The Tripura High Court has ruled that tax authorities must inform individuals if they file an appeal on the incorrect GST portal. In a case involving Tropical Beverages Pvt. Ltd., the court quashed an order that refused an appeal solely because it was uploaded to the Central GST portal instead of the State GST portal. The court emphasised that authorities have an obligation to notify the assessee of such errors so that the appeal can be rectified.

The Hon'ble Tripura High Court in Tropical Beverages Pvt. Ltd. v. the Union of India & Ors. [W.P(C) No. 701 of 2021 dated January 4, 2022] quashed the order of the Appellate Authority refusing the appeal filed by the assessee on the wrong GST portal. Further held that, uploading of an appeal may be before the wrong portal, but it is obligatory on the part of the authorities concerned in such an event to bring it to the notice of the assessee that the appeal has been filed before the wrong authority so that the necessary action can be taken.

Facts

Tropical Beverages Pvt. Ltd. ("the Petitioner") has filed this petition, being aggrieved against the order of the Revenue Department ("the Respondent") refusing to accept the Petitioner’s appeal filed in FORM GST APL-01, which was wrongly uploaded on the Central GST Portal by the Petitioner instead of State GST Portal.

Issue

Whether the Petitioner’s appeal can be refused due to uploading of the appeal in wrong forum?

Held

The Hon'ble Tripura High Court in W.P(C) No. 701 of 2021 dated January 4, 2022 held as under:

• Noted that, the Petitioner had also filed a hard copy before the Respondent but the Respondent refused to accept the same as an appeal purportedly since on verification of the portal of the State GST no such appeal was found thereon.
• Observed that, the Petitioner had uploaded an appeal may be before the wrong portal but it is obligatory on the part of the authorities concerned in such an event to bring it to the notice of the Petitioner that the appeal has been filed before the wrong authority so that the Petitioner can take necessary action.
• Stated that, the Petitioner was unaware of uploading its appeal before the Central GST Portal instead of State GST Portal. Further noted that, the Respondent have now located the appeal filed by the Petitioner before the Central authorities.
• Directed the Petitioner, to file a fresh appeal and upload the before the appropriate authority i.e. the State GST Portal.
• Further directed the Respondent to condone the delay in filing the appeal, since the matter had been filed before a wrong forum.
• Further advised all Appellate Authority to inform the appellant or assessee in particular, by email about the error committed by them, in case the appeal is filed before the wrong forum, since all these facilities are fairly new and it requires time to carry out necessary corrections.