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Section 63 of the CGST Act, 2017

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GST›CGST Act, 2017›Chapter XII, Assessment

At a glance

Bars, duties and time limits

63 provisoNo assessment order may be passed without an opportunity to be heard.

Procedure, powers and definitions

63Overriding sections 73, 74 and 74A, the officer may assess a person who failed to register despite liability or whose section 29(2) registration was cancelled despite tax liability, within five years from the relevant section 44 annual-return date.
63The law does not settle the five-year starting date where no annual return is owed; the section 74A insertion has no stated commencement date.

Section 63 permits best-judgment assessment where a taxable person failed to register or had registration cancelled while liable for tax. It overrides sections 73, 74 and 74A, subject to a hearing before the order. The five-year limit refers to the annual-return date. The section commenced on 1 July 2017; the section 74A insertion and the starting date for non-filers remain unresolved.^[1]

Quick facts

Section 63, CGST Act, 2017

Assessment of unregistered persons

Provision
Act	Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
Chapter	XII, Assessment
Section title	Assessment of unregistered persons
In force from	1 July 2017^[1]
Amendments
Last amendment	16 August 2024: Inserted the words "or section 74A" in the opening words. (section 131 of The Finance Act (No. 2) Act, 2024, No. 15 of 2024, dated 16.08.2024)
Amendments	2 footnotes in the CBIC text (table)
Related provisions
Sections	2, 22, 24, 29, 44, 73, 74, 74A
Structure the opening wordsThe person the section reaches the middle wordsThe assessment to the best of judgment and the relevant tax periods the closing wordsThe five years for issuing the order the non obstante wordsThe determinations this section operates notwithstanding the provisoThe opportunity of being heard
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 63, verbatim (show)

Section 63

* Section 63. Assessment of unregistered persons.-

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in section 73 or section 74 ¹[or section 74A], where a taxable person fails to obtain registration even though liable to do so or whose registration has been cancelled under sub-section (2) of section 29 but who was liable to pay tax, the proper officer may proceed to assess the tax liability of such taxable person to the best of his judgment for the relevant tax periods and issue an assessment order within a period of five years from the date specified under section 44 for furnishing of the annual return for the financial year to which the tax not paid relates:

Provided that no such assessment order shall be passed without giving the person an opportunity of being heard.

*Enforced w.e.f. 1st July, 2017.

1. Inserted by section 131 of The Finance Act (No. 2) Act, 2024 No. 15 of 2024 dated 16.08.2024.

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 person the section reaches the opening words

Questions to answer on the file6 questions

Is the person a taxable person?
On which footing is the person said to fall within this section: he failed to obtain registration even though liable to do so, his registration has been cancelled under sub-section (2) of section 29 but he was liable to pay tax or neither of these?
If “he failed to obtain registration even though liable to do so”: was the person liable to be registered?
Has the person obtained registration?
If question 2 is answered “his registration has been cancelled under sub-section (2) of section 29 but he was liable to pay tax”: under which sub-section of section 29 was the registration cancelled: sub-section (1), sub-section (2) or the registration has not been cancelled?
Was the person liable to pay tax for the periods?

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The assessment to the best of judgment and the relevant tax periods the middle words

Questions to answer on the file5 questions

Has the proper officer proceeded to assess the tax liability of the person?
Was the assessment made to the best of the officer's judgment?
Which tax periods does the assessment order cover?
Has an assessment order been issued?
Was the order issued in the form the rules prescribe for an assessment under this section?

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The five years for issuing the order the closing words

Questions to answer on the file3 questions

To which financial year does the tax not paid relate?
What is the date specified under section 44 for furnishing the annual return for that financial year?
On what date was the assessment order issued?

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The determinations this section operates notwithstanding the non obstante words

Questions to answer on the file2 questions

Under which section is that proceeding: section 73, section 74, section 74A or none of these?
Does the period fall on or after the date from which the reference to section 74A was inserted into this section?

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The opportunity of being heard the proviso

Questions to answer on the file3 questions

Was the person given an opportunity of being heard before the assessment order was passed?
Was a notice containing the grounds on which the assessment was proposed to be made on best judgment basis served on the person?
Was the person allowed a time of fifteen days to furnish his reply?

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Amendment history

The CBIC text carries 2 footnotes. The table gives each in the source's own terms. Effective dates are as the footnotes state them.^[1]

Amendments to section 63 as footnoted in the CBIC text
Note	Change	Instrument	Effective from
	Enforced the section.	—	1st July, 2017
1	Inserted the words "or section 74A" in the opening words.	section 131 of The Finance Act (No. 2) Act, 2024, No. 15 of 2024, dated 16.08.2024^[2]	the source's footnote gives no effective date for the insertion; the date shown is the date of the amending Act

Provisions connected to Section 63
Provision	Connection	Words that tie them
Section 73	Section 73, S74, S74A overridden by this provision	63 "Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in section 73 or section 74 1[or section 74A]"
Section 22	this provision requires Section 22, S24	63 "fails to obtain registration even though liable to do so"
Section 29	this provision requires Section 29 sub-section (2)	63 "or whose registration has been cancelled under sub-section (2) of section 29"
Section 44	this provision requires Section 44	63 "from the date specified under section 44 for furnishing of the annual return"
Section 2	this provision defined by Section 2 clause (107)	63 "where a taxable person fails to obtain registration"
Section 2	this provision defined by Section 2 clause (106)	63 "to the best of his judgment for the relevant tax periods"

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 (2)

Number	Date	Subject
Notification No. 16/2019-Central Tax	29 March 2019	Seeks to make Second Amendment (2019) to CGST Rules.
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 63 do not answer these questions. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.

From what date does the reference to section 74A, inserted into this section by section 131 of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024, apply? The source's footnote gives the amending Act and its date of 16.08.2024 and no commencement date. The same position already covers the identical insertions into sections 61 and 62 and is cited, not written again.
From what date do the five years run where the person owes no annual return under section 44 for the financial year? The section fixes the starting point only as "the date specified under section 44 for furnishing of the annual return", and a person who never obtained registration is not among those section 44 requires to furnish one.

See also

Section 22 of the CGST Act, 2017: persons liable for registration
Section 29 of the CGST Act, 2017: cancellation or suspension of registration
Section 44 of the CGST Act, 2017: annual return
Section 74A of the CGST Act, 2017: determination of tax not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded or input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised for any reason pertaining to Financial Year 2024-25 onward

References

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 63. Assessment of unregistered persons". Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, CBIC tax information portal, with amendment footnotes 1 to 2. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
The Finance Act (No. 2) Act, 2024. Cited in CBIC footnote 1.

External links

CGST Act, 2017, Section 63 on the CBIC tax information portal