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Section 76 of the CGST Act, 2017

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GST›CGST Act, 2017›Chapter XV, Demands and Recovery

At a glance

Bars, duties and time limits

  • 76(1)Every person who collects an amount representing tax but does not pay it to the Government must pay forthwith, regardless of taxability and notwithstanding contrary orders, directions or law.
  • 76(4)Section 50 interest runs from collection until payment.

Procedure, powers and definitions

  • 76(2)–(3)The proper officer may issue notice for the unpaid amount and an equivalent penalty, consider representations and determine the amount to be paid.
  • 76(5)–(8)Give a hearing on written request. Issue an order stating relevant facts and its basis within one year of notice, excluding a court or Appellate Tribunal stay.
  • 76(9)Adjust the payment against tax due on the related supplies, if any.
  • 76(10)–(11)Credit any surplus to the Fund or refund it to the person who bore the incidence; that person may apply under section 54.
  • 76The law does not settle how an amount represents tax without that label, when forthwith begins, the consequence of missing the order deadline, or who chooses between the Fund and a refund and on what test.

A person who collects an amount as tax and retains it must pay it to the Government forthwith, even if the supply is not taxable. This duty overrides contrary appellate or court directions, the Act, rules and other laws. The proper officer can determine unpaid amounts with an equivalent penalty. The order deadline excludes periods covered by a court or Appellate Tribunal stay.[1]

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 76, verbatim (show)

* Section 76. Tax collected but not paid to Government.-

(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any order or direction of any Appellate Authority or Appellate Tribunal or court or in any other provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder or any other law for the time being in force, every person who has collected from any other person any amount as representing the tax under this Act, and has not paid the said amount to the Government, shall forthwith pay the said amount to the Government, irrespective of whether the supplies in respect of which such amount was collected are taxable or not.

(2) Where any amount is required to be paid to the Government under sub-section (1), and which has not been so paid, the proper officer may serve on the person liable to pay such amount a notice requiring him to show cause as to why the said amount as specified in the notice, should not be paid by him to the Government and why a penalty equivalent to the amount specified in the notice should not be imposed on him under the provisions of this Act.

(3) The proper officer shall, after considering the representation, if any, made by the person on whom the notice is served under sub-section (2), determine the amount due from such person and thereupon such person shall pay the amount so determined.

(4) The person referred to in sub-section (1) shall in addition to paying the amount referred to in sub-section (1) or sub-section (3) also be liable to pay interest thereon at the rate specified under section 50 from the date such amount was collected by him to the date such amount is paid by him to the Government.

(5) An opportunity of hearing shall be granted where a request is received in writing from the person to whom the notice was issued to show cause.

(6) The proper officer shall issue an order within one year from the date of issue of the notice.

(7) Where the issuance of order is stayed by an order of the court or Appellate Tribunal, the period of such stay shall be excluded in computing the period of one year.

(8) The proper officer, in his order, shall set out the relevant facts and the basis of his decision.

(9) The amount paid to the Government under sub-section (1) or sub-section (3) shall be adjusted against the tax payable, if any, by the person in relation to the supplies referred to in sub-section (1).

(10) Where any surplus is left after the adjustment under sub-section (9), the amount of such surplus shall either be credited to the Fund or refunded to the person who has borne the incidence of such amount.

(11) The person who has borne the incidence of the amount, may apply for the refund of the same in accordance with the provisions of section 54.

*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
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The amount collected and not paid 76(1)

Questions to answer on the file6 questions
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The notice to show cause 76(2)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions
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The determination of the amount due 76(3)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions
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The interest on the amount 76(4)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions
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The opportunity of hearing 76(5)

Questions to answer on the file2 questions
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The one year for the order 76(6)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions
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The stay excluded from the one year 76(7)

Questions to answer on the file2 questions
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What the order must set out 76(8)

Questions to answer on the file2 questions
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The adjustment against tax payable 76(9)

Questions to answer on the file3 questions
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The surplus left after the adjustment 76(10)

Questions to answer on the file4 questions
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The refund to the person who bore the incidence 76(11)

Questions to answer on the file3 questions
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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 76 as footnoted in the CBIC text
NoteProvisionInstrumentEffective from
the whole section—enforced with effect from 1st July, 2017
Provisions connected to Section 76
ProvisionConnectionWords that tie them
Section 5076(4) prescribed by Section 5076(4) "also be liable to pay interest thereon at the rate specified under section 50"
Section 276(10) defined by Section 2 clause (51)s.2(51) "\"Fund\" means the Consumer Welfare Fund established under section 57", relied on by 76(10) "credited to the Fund"
Section 5776(10) requires Section 5776(10) "shall either be credited to the Fund"
Section 5476(11) prescribed by Section 5476(11) "may apply for the refund of the same in accordance with the provisions of section 54"
Rule 142 of the CGST Rules, 2017this provision prescribed by rule 142 of the CGST Rules 201776(2) "serve on the person liable to pay such amount a notice"

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 (3)

NumberDateSubject
Circular No. 224/18/2024-GST11 July 2024Guidelines for recovery of outstanding dues, in cases wherein first appeal has been disposed of, till Appellate Tribunal comes into operation.
Circular No. 117/36/2019-GST11 October 2019Clarification on applicability of GST exemption to the DG Shipping approved maritime courses conducted by Maritime Training Institutes of India.
Circular No. 3/03/2017-GST5 July 2017Proper officer relating to provisions other than Registration and Composition under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017-Reg.

Notifications (5)

NumberDateSubject
Notification No. 12/2024-Central Tax10 July 2024Seeks to make amendments (Amendment, 2024) to the CGST Rules, 2017.
Notification No. 16/2019-Central Tax29 March 2019Seeks to make Second Amendment (2019) to CGST Rules.
Notification No. 48/2018-Central Tax10 September 2018Seeks to make amendments (Ninth Amendment, 2018) to the CGST Rules, 2017.
Notification No. 28/2018-Central Tax19 June 2018Notification issued for amending the CGST Rules, 2017
Notification No. 15/2017-Central Tax1 July 2017Amending CGST Rules notification 10/2017-CT dt 28.06.2017

Unsettled questions

The words of section 76 do not answer these questions. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.

  1. What makes an amount one "collected... by way of tax under this Act" where the document does not describe it as tax?
  2. By when must the amount be paid to the Government for the payment to be "forthwith" within sub-section (1), and from what event does that time run: the collection, the discovery, or the demand?
  3. What follows where the proper officer does not issue the order within the one year that sub-section (6) fixes? Unlike section 75(10), which deems adjudication proceedings concluded when an order under section 73, 74 or 74A is late, this section attaches no consequence to the lapse of its own one year.
  4. Where a surplus is left after the adjustment under sub-section (9), who decides between crediting it to the Fund and refunding it to the person who has borne the incidence, and on what does the choice turn? Sub-section (10) says "either... or" and names no decider and no test.

See also

References

  1. Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 76. Tax collected but not paid to Government". Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, CBIC tax information portal, with amendment footnotes 1 to 1. Retrieved 17 September 2026.

External links