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Section 64 of the CGST Act, 2017

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GST›CGST Act, 2017›Chapter XII, Assessment

At a glance

Procedure, powers and definitions

64(1)On evidence of liability and prior Joint or Additional Commissioner permission, the proper officer may assess to protect revenue if sufficient grounds show delay may adversely affect it.
64(1) provisoWhere the taxable person is unascertainable and liability concerns goods, the person in charge is deemed the taxable person liable for assessment, tax and other amounts.
64(2)On the taxable person’s application within thirty days of order receipt or on his own motion, the Joint or Additional Commissioner may withdraw an erroneous order and follow section 73, 74 or 74A.
64The law does not settle when a taxable person is “not ascertainable” or the own-motion withdrawal deadline; the section 74A insertion date is unstated.

Section 64 permits urgent summary assessment on evidence of liability, prior senior-officer permission and sufficient grounds that delay threatens revenue. For goods with an unascertainable taxable person, the person in charge is deemed liable. An erroneous order may be withdrawn under sub-section (2), displacing the assessment under sub-section (1). The section commenced on 1 July 2017; the section 74A insertion is undated.^[1]

Quick facts

Section 64, CGST Act, 2017

Summary assessment in certain special cases

Provision
Act	Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
Chapter	XII, Assessment
Section title	Summary assessment in certain special cases
In force from	1 July 2017^[1]
Amendments
Last amendment	16 August 2024: Inserted the words "or section 74A" in sub-section (2). (section 132 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, 3, 73, 74, 74A
Structure 64(1) main wordsThe evidence and the grounds for a summary assessment 64(1)The previous permission the proviso to 64(1)Where the taxable person is not ascertainable 64(2)The withdrawal of the order 64(2) closing wordsThe procedure that follows the withdrawal
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 64, verbatim (show)

Section 64

* Section 64. Summary assessment in certain special cases. -

(1) The proper officer may, on any evidence showing a tax liability of a person coming to his notice, with the previous permission of Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner, proceed to assess the tax liability of such person to protect the interest of revenue and issue an assessment order, if he has sufficient grounds to believe that any delay in doing so may adversely affect the interest of revenue:

Provided that where the taxable person to whom the liability pertains is not ascertainable and such liability pertains to supply of goods, the person in charge of such goods shall be deemed to be the taxable person liable to be assessed and liable to pay tax and any other amount due under this section.

(2) On an application made by the taxable person within thirty days from the date of receipt of order passed under sub-section (1) or on his own motion, if the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner considers that such order is erroneous, he may withdraw such order and follow the procedure laid down in section 73 or section 74 ¹[or section 74A].

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

1. Inserted by section 132 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 evidence and the grounds for a summary assessment 64(1) main words

Questions to answer on the file5 questions

Has evidence showing a tax liability of the person come to the notice of the proper officer?
Had the proper officer sufficient grounds to believe that any delay in proceeding may adversely affect the interest of revenue?
Did the officer proceed to assess the tax liability of the person to protect the interest of revenue?
Has an assessment order been issued?
On what date was the assessment order issued?

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The previous permission 64(1)

Questions to answer on the file3 questions

Is a permission for the summary assessment on record?
Who gave that permission: the Additional Commissioner, the Joint Commissioner or an officer of neither of those classes?
Was the permission given before the officer proceeded to assess?

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Where the taxable person is not ascertainable the proviso to 64(1)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions

Is the taxable person to whom the liability pertains ascertainable?
Does the liability pertain to a supply of goods?
Is there a person in charge of those goods?
Is the person on whom the order was made the person in charge of those goods?

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The withdrawal of the order 64(2)

Questions to answer on the file7 questions

On what date did the taxable person receive the order passed under sub-section (1)?
Has the taxable person applied for withdrawal of the order?
On what date was that application made?
Was the application made within thirty days from the date of receipt of the order?
Is the withdrawal being considered on the officer's own motion?
Does the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner consider the order to be erroneous?
Has the order been withdrawn?

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The procedure that follows the withdrawal 64(2) closing words

Questions to answer on the file2 questions

Under which section has the procedure been followed after the withdrawal: 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 sub-section?

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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 64 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 sub-section (2).	section 132 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 64
Provision	Connection	Words that tie them
Section 3	this provision requires Section 3	64(1) "with the previous permission of Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner", those being classes of officers section 3 appoints
Section 73	64(2) requires Section 73, S74, S74A	64(2) "follow the procedure laid down in section 73 or section 74 1[or section 74A]"
Section 2	this provision defined by Section 2 clause (107)	proviso "where the taxable person to whom the liability pertains is not ascertainable"
Section 2	this provision defined by Section 2 clause (52)	proviso "and such liability pertains to supply of goods"

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 64 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 sub-section (2) by section 132 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, 62 and 63 and is cited, not written again.
When is the taxable person to whom the liability pertains "not ascertainable"? The proviso turns a stranger to the supply into the person liable to be assessed on that finding alone, and neither the proviso nor any definition says what enquiry must first be made or what makes a person unascertainable.
Within what time may the Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner withdraw a summary assessment order on his own motion? The sub-section fixes thirty days for an application by the taxable person and fixes nothing at all for the officer's own motion.

See also

Section 73 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 other than fraud or any willful-misstatement or suppression of facts
Section 74 of the CGST Act, 2017: determination of tax not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded or input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised by reason of fraud or any willful-misstatement or suppression of facts
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 64. Summary assessment in certain special cases". 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 64 on the CBIC tax information portal