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Section 92 of the CGST Act, 2017

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GST›CGST Act, 2017›Chapter XVI, Liability to Pay in Certain Cases

At a glance

Bars, duties and time limits

92Where the estate or part of it is under the specified control, levy and recovery reach the Court of Wards, Administrator General, Official Trustee, receiver or manager, including an actual business manager regardless of designation, in the same manner and extent as the taxable person; the Act and rules apply.

Procedure, powers and definitions

92The law does not settle whether appointment by or under a court order qualifies all listed offices or only receivers and managers.

Tax, interest and penalty connected with a business can be levied and recovered from the specified authority or manager controlling the owner’s estate. The measure remains the same as if the taxable person conducted the business personally, and the Act and rules apply accordingly. The court-appointment qualification is expressly present, but its reach across the listed offices is unsettled.^[1]

Quick facts

Section 92, CGST Act, 2017

Liability of Court of Wards, etc

Provision
Act	Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017
Chapter	XVI, Liability to Pay in Certain Cases
Section title	Liability of Court of Wards, etc
In force from	1 July 2017^[1]
Amendments
Last amendment	1 July 2017: brought section 92 into force (none — the source's own enforcement note, not an amendment footnote)
Amendments	1 footnote in the CBIC text (table)
Related provisions
Sections	2, 91, 93
Structure section 92, opening wordsThe estate of a taxable person owning a business section 92, "in respect of which any tax, interest or penalty is payable under this Act"The amount payable in respect of the business section 92, "is under the control of the Court of Wards ... or any receiver or manager"Who has control of the estate section 92, "appointed by or under any order of a court"Appointment by or under any order of a court section 92, closing wordsLevy on and recovery from the person in control
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 92, verbatim (show)

* Section 92. Liability of Court of Wards, etc.-

Where the estate or any portion of the estate of a taxable person owning a business in respect of which any tax, interest or penalty is payable under this Act is under the control of the Court of Wards, the Administrator General, the Official Trustee or any receiver or manager (including any person, whatever be his designation, who in fact manages the business) appointed by or under any order of a court, the tax, interest or penalty shall be levied upon and be recoverable from such Court of Wards, Administrator General, Official Trustee, receiver or manager in like manner and to the same extent as it would be determined and be recoverable from the taxable person as if he were conducting the business himself, and all the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder shall apply accordingly.

*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 file2 questions

What is the matter, from the things this section speaks about?
Did the matter arise on or after 1 July 2017?

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The estate of a taxable person owning a business section 92, opening words

Questions to answer on the file3 questions

How much of the estate is under control: the estate or any portion of the estate?
Is the owner of the business a taxable person?
Does that taxable person own the business in respect of which the amount is payable?

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The amount payable in respect of the business section 92, "in respect of which any tax, interest or penalty is payable under this Act"

Questions to answer on the file3 questions

Is any tax, interest or penalty payable under this Act in respect of that business?
On what account is the amount payable: tax, interest or penalty?
What is the amount payable in respect of the business?

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Who has control of the estate section 92, "is under the control of the Court of Wards ... or any receiver or manager"

Questions to answer on the file3 questions

Is the estate, or a portion of it, under the control of someone other than the taxable person?
Who has that control: the Court of Wards, the Administrator General, the Official Trustee, any receiver, any manager or any person, whatever be his designation, who in fact manages the business?
Does that person in fact manage the business?

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Appointment by or under any order of a court section 92, "appointed by or under any order of a court"

Questions to answer on the file3 questions

Was that person appointed by or under any order of a court?
On which footing was the appointment made: by an order of a court or under an order of a court?
Only where “the Court of Wards”, “the Administrator General” or “the Official Trustee” applies: do the words "appointed by or under any order of a court" reach the person in control: the Court of Wards, the Administrator General and the Official Trustee, any receiver or manager or any person, whatever be his designation, who in fact manages the business?

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Levy on and recovery from the person in control section 92, closing words

Questions to answer on the file3 questions

Which step is: the levy of the tax, interest or penalty upon the person in control or the recovery of the tax, interest or penalty from him?
What would be determined and be recoverable from the taxable person, taken as conducting the business himself?
Have the provisions of this Act, or the rules made thereunder, been applied to the person in control accordingly?

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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 92 as footnoted in the CBIC text
Note	Change	Instrument	Effective from
	brought section 92 into force	none — the source's own enforcement note, not an amendment footnote	1 July 2017

Provisions connected to Section 92
Provision	Connection	Words that tie them
Section 2	this provision defined by Section 2 clause (107)	section 92 turns on the estate being that of "a taxable person", which 2(107) defines
Section 91	this provision same as Section 91	section 91 carries the identical formula "in like manner and to the same extent as it would be determined and... recoverable", for a guardian, trustee or agent

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.

Notifications (1)

Number	Date	Subject
Notification No. 01/2020-Central Tax	1 January 2020	Seeks to bring into force certain provisions of the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 to amend the CGST Act, 2017.

Unsettled questions

The words of section 92 do not answer this question. Where one decides a matter on the file, the answer depends on the position taken on it.

The section names the Court of Wards, the Administrator General and the Official Trustee, who hold office under other laws, and then "any receiver or manager... appointed by or under any order of a court". Do the words of appointment qualify the whole list, so that only a court-appointed holder of any of those offices is reached, or only the receiver or manager who follows them?

See also

Section 91 of the CGST Act, 2017: liability of guardians, trustees, etc
Section 93 of the CGST Act, 2017: special provisions regarding liability to pay tax, interest or penalty in certain cases

References

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs. "Section 92. Liability of Court of Wards, etc". 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 92 on the CBIC tax information portal