Sections 73, 74, 74A and 168A, the limitation for GST demands in one place

Which section applies

Section 74A was inserted by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 and came into force on 1 November 2024. It applies to tax, refunds and credit for FY 2024-25 onward; Sections 73 and 74 continue to govern the earlier years.

The starting point in every case is the due date of the annual return for the year, not the end of the year and not the date the return was actually filed. For FY 2017-18 that due date was fixed State-wise (05.02.2020 or 07.02.2020), which moves the Section 74 dates for that year by two days depending on the State.

Section 74A: one timeline, two penalties

Section 74A removes the difference in time limits between fraud and non-fraud cases and keeps the difference only in the penalty:

• Non-fraud: penalty of 10% of the tax or ₹10,000, whichever is higher. Paying the tax with interest before the notice, or within 60 days of it, ends the proceeding without penalty.
• Fraud, wilful misstatement or suppression: penalty equal to the tax, reduced to 15% if tax and interest are paid before the notice, 25% if paid within 60 days of the notice, and 50% if paid within 60 days of the order.
• No notice is issued where the amount for the year is less than ₹1,000.
• The order is due within 12 months of the notice, and an officer senior to the proper officer may extend that by up to 6 months, for reasons recorded before the period runs out.

Under Sections 73 and 74 the corresponding windows are 30 days rather than 60, and the Section 74 percentages are the same (15%, 25%, 50%).

Section 168A and the first three years

Section 168A, inserted in 2020, lets the Government extend time limits under the Act where they could not be met because of force majeure, on the recommendation of the GST Council. It was used three times to extend the Section 73 order limit for FY 2017-18 to 2019-20:

• Notification No. 13/2022-Central Tax (5 July 2022);
• Notification No. 09/2023-Central Tax (31 March 2023), fixing 31.12.2023 for FY 2017-18, and the corresponding dates for the next two years;
• Notification No. 56/2023-Central Tax (28 December 2023), extending FY 2018-19 to 30.04.2024 and FY 2019-20 to 31.08.2024.

Section 74 dates were not extended. The reference table shows each year's dates.

The High Courts have split on whether these notifications were valid:

• The Gauhati High Court (Barkataki Print and Media Services, 2024) and the Madras High Court (Tata Play, 2025) held Notification No. 56/2023 ultra vires, principally because it was issued without the prior recommendation of the GST Council (later ratification was held not to cure that) and without a force majeure event being the real cause of delay.
• The Telangana High Court (Brunda Infra, 2025), the Patna High Court (Barhonia Engicon) and, for Notification No. 09/2023, the Allahabad High Court (Graziano Trasmissioni, 2024) upheld the extensions.

The Supreme Court has admitted the matter for final decision; as last reported (April 2026), it remains pending.

A related argument. The Supreme Court, by its order of 10 January 2022 in the suo motu limitation matter, excluded the period 15 March 2020 to 28 February 2022 from limitation for judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings. Some courts have treated that exclusion as making the notification challenge academic for particular cases; the Allahabad High Court held the suo motu orders do not extend limitation under the GST law. It is a separate question from the validity of the notifications and should be argued separately.

FY 2020-21: the three-month gap

For FY 2020-21 the annual return was due on 28 February 2022, so the Section 73 order limit is 28 February 2025 and the notice had to issue at least three months earlier. The Andhra Pradesh High Court (Cotton Corporation of India, February 2025) held that the last date was 28 November 2024 and quashed a notice of 30 November 2024; the Telangana High Court followed it. A contrary view treating 30 November as the last date has also been reported. The same corresponding-date reasoning puts the Section 74 notice limit for that year at 28 August 2026; that extension of the reasoning has not itself been decided.

After the notice

• Section 75(2) allows a Section 74 notice that fails for want of fraud or suppression to be recast under Section 73 and the demand confirmed for the period within the Section 73 limit; the case does not simply fall.
• Section 128A waived interest and penalty on Section 73 demands for FY 2017-18 to 2019-20 where the tax was paid by 31 March 2025, under the procedure in Rule 164. That window has closed, but orders under it continue to matter in pending appeals.

For the working paper

Officer:

• Fix the section by the tax period first: FY 2024-25 onward is Section 74A, earlier years Section 73 or 74.
• Compute from the annual-return due date for the year, using the State group for FY 2017-18.
• For FY 2017-18 to 2019-20 under Section 73, note in the file that the date relied on is a Section 168A-extended date under challenge.
• Under Section 74A, calendar the 12-month order date from the notice date, and any extension before it expires.

Practitioner:

• On receiving a notice, test the date against both the extended and original limits and against the corresponding-date rule for FY 2020-21; limitation is a jurisdictional point and should be raised in the reply, not only on appeal.
• Under Section 74A, a non-fraud demand paid with interest within 60 days of the notice ends without penalty.

The limitation calculator gives the dates for each year and section, with these caveats attached.