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Section 60 of the CGST Act, 2017

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GST›CGST Act, 2017›Chapter XII, Assessment

At a glance

Entitlement and conditions

60(5)A refund consequent to final assessment carries section 56 interest, subject to section 54(8).

Bars, duties and time limits

60(3)The officer must finalise assessment within six months from communication of the provisional order, considering required information.
60(4)Unpaid provisional-assessment supply tax attracts section 50(1) interest from the day after its section 39(7) or rules due date until actual payment, whether before or after final assessment.

Procedure, powers and definitions

60(1)-(2)A taxable person unable to determine value or rate may request provisional payment with written reasons; the officer must order within ninety days, subject to the prescribed bond and appropriate surety or security for the final tax difference.
60(3) provisoOn sufficient cause and written reasons, a Joint or Additional Commissioner may extend by up to six months and the Commissioner by up to four years.
60The law does not settle the starting point of the Commissioner’s extension or whether the interest base is the provisional or final assessment amount.

Section 60 permits provisional assessment on a reasoned written request where value or tax rate cannot be determined, subject to a bond and security. Final assessment ordinarily follows within six months, with specified extension powers. Unpaid tax and resulting refunds follow separate interest provisions, including section 54(8)’s refund condition. The section commenced on 1 July 2017.^[1]

Quick facts

Section 60, CGST Act, 2017

Provisional assessment

Provision
Act	Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
Chapter	XII, Assessment
Section title	Provisional assessment
In force from	1 July 2017^[1]
Amendments
Last amendment	1 July 2017: Enforced the section. There is no later amendment footnote on this section. (—)
Amendments	1 footnote in the CBIC text (table)
Related provisions
Rules	Rule 98 of the CGST Rules, 2017
Sections	2, 39, 50, 54, 56
Structure 60(1)The request and the order allowing provisional payment 60(2)The bond and the surety or security 60(3) main wordsThe final assessment order the proviso to 60(3)The extension of that period 60(4)Interest on tax under the provisional assessment 60(5)Interest on a refund consequent to the final assessment
Source
Law text	CBIC tax information portal, served on 17 September 2026^[1]
Questions reviewed	Prashant Prakash, 22 September 2026

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 60, verbatim (show)

* Section 60. Provisional assessment.-

(1) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (2), where the taxable person is unable to determine the value of goods or services or both or determine the rate of tax applicable there to, he may request the proper officer in writing giving reasons for payment of tax on provisional basis and the proper officer shall pass an order, within a period not later than ninety days from the date of receipt of such request, allowing payment of tax on provisional basis at such rate or on such value as may be specified by him.

(2) The payment of tax on provisional basis may be allowed, if the taxable person executes a bond in such form as may be prescribed, and with such surety or security as the proper officer may deem fit, binding the taxable person for payment of the difference between the amount of tax as may be finally assessed and the amount of tax provisionally assessed.

(3) The proper officer shall, within a period not exceeding six months from the date of the communication of the order issued under sub-section (1), pass the final assessment order after taking into account such information as may be required for finalizing the assessment:

Provided that the period specified in this sub-section may, on sufficient cause being shown and for reasons to be recorded in writing, be extended by the Joint Commissioner or Additional Commissioner for a further period not exceeding six months and by the Commissioner for such further period not exceeding four years.

(4) The registered person shall be liable to pay interest on any tax payable on the supply of goods or services or both under provisional assessment but not paid on the due date specified under sub-section (7) of section 39 or the rules made thereunder, at the rate specified under sub-section (1) of section 50, from the first day after the due date of payment of tax in respect of the said supply of goods or services or both till the date of actual payment, whether such amount is paid before or after the issuance of order for final assessment.

(5) Where the registered person is entitled to a refund consequent to the order of final assessment under sub-section (3), subject to the provisions of sub-section (8) of section 54, interest shall be paid on such refund as provided in section 56.

*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 file1 question

What is the matter about?

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The request and the order allowing provisional payment 60(1)

Questions to answer on the file9 questions

Is the person a taxable person?
What is the taxable person unable to determine: the value of goods or services or both or the rate of tax applicable thereto?
Has the taxable person requested the proper officer in writing for payment of tax on a provisional basis?
Does the request give reasons for payment of tax on a provisional basis?
On what date did the proper officer receive the request?
Has the proper officer passed an order allowing payment of tax on a provisional basis?
On what date was the order under sub-section (1) passed?
Does the order specify the rate or the value at which tax is to be paid provisionally?
Was the order passed within ninety days from the date of receipt of the request?

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The bond and the surety or security 60(2)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions

Has the taxable person executed a bond?
Is the bond in the form prescribed?
Has the taxable person furnished the surety or security the proper officer deemed fit?
Does the bond bind the person to pay the difference between the tax finally assessed and the tax provisionally assessed?

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The final assessment order 60(3) main words

Questions to answer on the file4 questions

On what date was the order issued under sub-section (1) communicated to the person?
Has the proper officer passed the final assessment order?
On what date was the final assessment order passed?
Did the officer take into account the information required for finalizing the assessment?

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The extension of that period the proviso to 60(3)

Questions to answer on the file5 questions

Has the period for passing the final assessment order been extended?
Who extended the period: the Joint Commissioner, the Additional Commissioner or the Commissioner?
Was sufficient cause shown for the extension?
Were the reasons for the extension recorded in writing?
By what further period was the time extended?

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Interest on tax under the provisional assessment 60(4)

Questions to answer on the file5 questions

Is the person a registered person?
Was the tax payable on the supply under the provisional assessment paid on the due date specified under sub-section (7) of section 39?
What is the due date of payment of the tax on that supply?
On what date was the tax actually paid?
Was the tax paid before or after the issuance of the order for final assessment: before the issuance of the order for final assessment or after the issuance of the order for final assessment?

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Interest on a refund consequent to the final assessment 60(5)

Questions to answer on the file2 questions

Is the registered person entitled to a refund consequent to the order of final assessment under sub-section (3)?
Is the refund subject to sub-section (8) of section 54?

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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]

Amendments to section 60 as footnoted in the CBIC text
Note	Change	Instrument	Effective from
	Enforced the section. There is no later amendment footnote on this section.	—	1st July, 2017

Provisions connected to Section 60
Provision	Connection	Words that tie them
Rule 98 of the CGST Rules, 2017	this provision prescribed by rule 98 of the CGST Rules 2017	60(2) "executes a bond in such form as may be prescribed"
Section 39	60(4) requires Section 39 sub-section (7)	60(4) "not paid on the due date specified under sub-section (7) of section 39"
Section 50	60(4) requires Section 50 sub-section (1)	60(4) "at the rate specified under sub-section (1) of section 50"
Section 54	60(5) requires Section 54 sub-section (8)	60(5) "subject to the provisions of sub-section (8) of section 54"
Section 56	60(5) requires Section 56	60(5) "interest shall be paid on such refund as provided in section 56"
Section 2	this provision defined by Section 2 clause (107)	s.2(107) "taxable person means a person who is registered or liable to be registered under section 22 or section 24"
Section 2	this provision defined by Section 2 clause (91)	s.2(91) "proper officer... means the Commissioner or the officer of the central tax who is assigned that function"

Circulars and notifications

Circulars and notifications in the CBIC repository that cite this section, newest first, by number, date and subject. A listing here does not say what an instrument decides; read the instrument.

Circulars (1)

Number	Date	Subject
Circular No. 3/03/2017-GST	5 July 2017	Proper officer relating to provisions other than Registration and Composition under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017-Reg.

Notifications (1)

Number	Date	Subject
Notification No. 10/2017-Central Tax	28 June 2017	Seeks to amend CGST Rules notification no 3/2017-Central Tax dt 19.06.2017 amended by a later instrument

Unsettled questions

The words of section 60 do not answer these questions. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.

Does the Commissioner's further period of not more than four years run from the expiry of the six months in sub-section (3), or from the expiry of a further period already granted by the Joint Commissioner or Additional Commissioner? The proviso names both authorities in one sentence and fixes no starting point for the second.
Is the "tax payable on the supply... under provisional assessment" on which interest runs the amount assessed provisionally, or the amount finally assessed? Sub-section (4) charges interest from the first day after the due date whether payment is made before or after the final assessment order, without saying which of the two amounts is the base.

See also

Section 39 of the CGST Act, 2017: furnishing of returns
Section 50 of the CGST Act, 2017: interest on delayed payment of tax
Section 54 of the CGST Act, 2017: refund of tax
Section 56 of the CGST Act, 2017: interest on delayed refunds

References

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 60. Provisional assessment". 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 60 on the CBIC tax information portal