The CBIC has released Central Tax Notification No. 11/2025, introducing amendments to Rule 164 of the CGST Rules, 2017.
The GST notification with a particular focus on Rule 164 draws amendments to the provisions for the tax demands, appeals, and refund claims and furnishes clarity on the treatment of appeals and tax obligations u/s 128A of the CGST Act, 2017.
The main change to Rule 164 concerns situations in which a tax demand made under Section 128A(1) covers the time frame from July 1, 2017, to March 31, 2020.
The amended rule mentioned that the taxpayers will not be qualified for a tax refund, interest, or penalty already paid for any period covered under such demands.
Also, the modification introduces flexibility via permitting the taxpayers to withdraw their plea merely for the cited period while carrying on to challenge the demands for the forthcoming periods.
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The amendment introduced by the change is the provision permitting the partial withdrawal of appeals. Earlier, Rule 164 did not cite whether the taxpayers who asked to settle their tax obligation for the mentioned period were mandated to withdraw their plea for the whole assessment period, even if they wanted to challenge the tax demands for the forthcoming periods.
Now the amendment cited that if a taxpayer wishes to accept the obligation for the particular period but still contests the tax demands for the other periods, then they are not mandated to withdraw their plea.
Instead, they could notify the appellate authority that their withdrawal applies merely to the mentioned period, permitting them to carry on the contesting demands for the forthcoming periods.
Subsequently, the revision obligates that once a plea is withdrawn for a particular period then the appellate authority or the tribunal would be mandated to mark this withdrawal and issue a relevant order considering the same, ensuring that the withdrawal is restricted merely to the particular pursuit and does not have any bearing on the taxpayers’ ability to ask for the statutory remedies for tax demands of the other periods.
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The goal of this amendment is to boost the taxpayer’s confidence by ensuring clarity on the provision’s vocabulary.
Raushan Kumar, Under Secretary to the Government of India, has undersigned the notification.
