Text
The text below is the section as served by the CBIC tax information portal on 17 September 2026, with the portal's own amendment footnote markers (shown as small numerals before a bracket) and its footnotes.[1] The Act as published in the Gazette of India is the legal source.
Section 174, verbatim (show)
* Section 174. Repeal and saving.-
(1) Save as otherwise provided in this Act, on and from the date of commencement of this Act, the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944) (except as respects goods included in entry 84 of the Union List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution), the Medicinal and Toilet Preparations (Excise Duties) Act, 1955 (16 of 1955), the Additional Duties of Excise (Goods of Special Importance) Act, 1957 (58 of 1957), the Additional Duties of Excise (Textiles and Textile Articles) Act, 1978 (40 of 1978), and the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 (5 of 1986) (hereafter referred to as the repealed Acts) are hereby repealed.
(2) The repeal of the said Acts and the amendment of the Finance Act, 1994 (hereafter referred to as "such amendment" or "amended Act" , as the case may be) to the extent mentioned in the sub-section (1) or section 173 shall not-
(a) revive anything not in force or existing at the time of such amendment or repeal; or
(b) affect the previous operation of the amended Act or repealed Acts and orders or anything duly done or suffered thereunder; or
(c) affect any right, privilege, obligation, or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the amended Act or repealed Acts or orders under such repealed or amended Acts:
Provided that any tax exemption granted as an incentive against investment through a notification shall not continue as privilege if the said notification is rescinded on or after the appointed day; or
(d) affect any duty, tax, surcharge, fine, penalty, interest as are due or may become due or any forfeiture or punishment incurred or inflicted in respect of any offence or violation committed against the provisions of the amended Act or repealed Acts; or
(e) affect any investigation, inquiry, verification (including scrutiny and audit), assessment proceedings, adjudication and any other legal proceedings or recovery of arrears or remedy in respect of any such duty, tax, surcharge, penalty, fine, interest, right, privilege, obligation, liability, forfeiture or punishment, as aforesaid, and any such investigation, inquiry, verification (including scrutiny and audit), assessment proceedings, adjudication and other legal proceedings or recovery of arrears or remedy may be instituted, continued or enforced, and any such tax, surcharge, penalty, fine, interest, forfeiture or punishment may be levied or imposed as if these Acts had not been so amended or repealed;
(f) affect any proceedings including that relating to an appeal, review or reference, instituted before on, or after the appointed day under the said amended Act or repealed Acts and such proceedings shall be continued under the said amended Act or repealed Acts as if this Act had not come into force and the said Acts had not been amended or repealed.
(3) The mention of the particular matters referred to in sub-sections (1) and (2) shall not be held to prejudice or affect the general application of section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 (10 of 1897) with regard to the effect of repeal.
* Enforced w.e.f. 1st July, 2017 .
Questions to answer on the file
Questions a reviewer answers from the engagement file, grouped by the part of the section they come from. They describe what the section asks; they do not decide it.
Scope the section as a whole
Questions to answer on the file4 questions
The repeal of the earlier Acts 174(1)
Questions to answer on the file3 questions
Nothing is revived 174(2)(a)
Questions to answer on the file2 questions
Previous operation, orders, and anything duly done or suffered 174(2)(b)
Questions to answer on the file3 questions
Rights, privileges, obligations and liabilities, and the proviso 174(2)(c) and its proviso
Questions to answer on the file6 questions
Duties, taxes, forfeitures and punishments 174(2)(d)
Questions to answer on the file3 questions
Investigations, proceedings, recovery of arrears and remedies 174(2)(e)
Questions to answer on the file3 questions
Appeals, reviews and references 174(2)(f)
Questions to answer on the file3 questions
Section 6 of the General Clauses Act, 1897 174(3)
Questions to answer on the file2 questions
Amendment history
The CBIC text carries 1 footnote. The table gives each in the source's own terms. Effective dates are as the footnotes state them.[1]
| Note | Change | Instrument | Effective from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enforced the section | — | 1st July, 2017 |
Relationship with other provisions
| Provision | Connection | Words that tie them |
|---|---|---|
| Section 1 | 174(1) requires Section 1 | 174(1) "on and from the date of commencement of this Act" |
| Section 173 | 174(2) requires Section 173 | 174(2) "to the extent mentioned in the sub-section (1) or section 173"; and the whole of what that section mentions, s.173 "Save as otherwise provided in this Act, Chapter V of the Finance Act, 1994 shall be omitted" |
| Section 2 | the proviso to 174(2)(c) defined by Section 2 clause (10) | proviso to 174(2)(c) "on or after the appointed day" |
| Section 140 | Section 140 requires 174(2)(c) | the transitional credit section 140 carries forward is a right or privilege accrued under a repealed Act, which this clause saves: 174(2)(c) "affect any right, privilege, obligation, or liability acquired, accrued or incurred under the amended Act or repealed Acts" |
| Section 141 | Section 141 requires 174(2)(b) | the removals section 141 protects were made under the existing law before the appointed day, and what was done under it is saved by 174(2)(b) "affect the previous operation of the amended Act or repealed Acts and orders or anything duly done or suffered thereunder" |
| Section 142 | Section 142 requires 174(2)(f) | the appeals, reviews and references section 142 keeps under the earlier law are the proceedings this clause continues: 174(2)(f) "such proceedings shall be continued under the said amended Act or repealed Acts" |
| Section 2 | Section 2 clause (48) defined by 174(1) | 174(1) "the Central Excise Act, 1944 (1 of 1944)"; 174(1) "hereafter referred to as the repealed Acts" — the Acts sub-section (1) names are the Acts the defined expression "existing law" reaches for central excise, and the transitional records use that expression rather than naming the Acts |
Circulars and notifications
No circular or notification in the CBIC repository is recorded as citing this section.
Unsettled questions
The words of section 174 do not answer these questions. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.
- Sub-section (1) opens "Save as otherwise provided in this Act" and closes "are hereby repealed". Where another provision of this Act otherwise provides for a matter, do those opening words keep the Act under which the matter arose from being repealed for that matter, or do they only qualify what the repeal does to it? The sub-section says neither. The record must not choose: sub-section (2) exists to save what was done under the repealed Acts, which points to the narrower reading, but the opening words sit on the whole sub-section including the repeal itself. Until this is settled, reports nothing either way on a run where is yes.
- Where a tax exemption granted as an incentive against investment is stopped from continuing as a privilege by the proviso, may the same exemption still be saved by another clause of sub-section (2), most obviously by clause (b) as something duly done under the repealed Act? The proviso is printed after clause (c) and ends with the words "; or" that join the clauses to one another, so its placement points both ways: it may qualify clause (c) alone, in which case clause (b) is untouched and the proviso can be worked around, or the whole of sub-section (2), in which case it cannot. The sub-section says neither.
See also
- Section 1 of the CGST Act, 2017: short title, extent and commencement
- Section 2 of the CGST Act, 2017: definitions
- Section 140 of the CGST Act, 2017: transitional arrangements for input tax credit
- Section 141 of the CGST Act, 2017: transitional provisions relating to job work
- Section 142 of the CGST Act, 2017: miscellaneous transitional provisions
- Section 139 of the CGST Act, 2017: migration of existing taxpayers
References
- Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 174. Repeal and saving". Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, CBIC tax information portal, with amendment footnotes 1 to 1. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
External links
- CGST Act, 2017, Section 174 on the CBIC tax information portal