GST Notice Handling Services
for Businesses Receiving Departmental Notices and Intimations

At N D Savla & Associates, our qualified Chartered Accountants handle the full range of GST notices from the moment a notice is received through to the reply, the hearing, and the closure of the proceeding.

Most GST notices arrive on the common portal and on email together, and many businesses miss the first few days simply because the notice was not routed to the right person. Therefore, our practice treats notice handling as a structured workflow rather than a one-off response. Furthermore, the work connects with every other stage of GST compliance — from return filing and GST registration through SCN handling and appeal — so the right specialist team picks up the matter at the right time.

The Legal Basis for GST Notices

Each GST notice is issued under a specific provision of the CGST Act 2017 and the rules made under it. Therefore, every notice carries a section reference, a form number, and a defined consequence if it is not responded to in time. Hence, the first step in any notice engagement is to locate the legal basis precisely, because the section invoked governs everything that follows.

Who Issues GST Notices

GST notices are issued by proper officers of the Central or State GST department, depending on the issue and the jurisdiction. Therefore, notices can come from the registration officer, the range or division dealing with returns and scrutiny, the audit and assessment wing, or the adjudicating or recovery officer. Hence, the same business can receive notices from different desks of the department in the same year, each with its own subject and procedure.

Where Notices Are Served — Section 169

Under Section 169 of the CGST Act 2017, a GST notice can be served by delivery, by post, by email at the registered address, by making it available on the common portal, or by other prescribed modes. Therefore, the GST portal is now the primary channel for most notices, and a notice uploaded to the portal counts as served whether or not the taxpayer has logged in. Hence, monitoring the portal is part of basic GST hygiene.

The CGST Act 2017 and the related Rules provide for several formal notice types, each tied to a specific situation. Therefore, the following list summarises the most common GST notices a business is likely to encounter.

A GST notice is effective from the moment it is served in any of the modes recognised by Section 169 of the CGST Act 2017. Therefore, knowing how a notice is served and when the clock starts ticking is fundamental to defending it.

Modes of Service Recognised by the Statute

The recognised modes of service include direct delivery to the taxpayer or an authorised representative, registered post or speed post, email at the registered address, and uploading to the common GST portal. Therefore, none of these channels is optional from the department’s side. Hence, the absence of a physical letter does not mean a notice has not been served.

When the Reply Clock Starts

The reply timeline runs from the date of service of the notice, not from the date the taxpayer chooses to read it. Therefore, a notice uploaded on the portal on a particular date counts from that date even if the taxpayer logs in much later. Hence, the date of issue on the notice and the date of service should be tracked precisely.

Verifying the Notice on the GST Portal

Every GST notice has a unique reference number and is reflected on the common GST portal under the taxpayer’s account. Therefore, the first verification is to log into the portal and read the notice in full there, alongside any annexures uploaded. Hence, our team treats the portal as the primary source of truth in every notice engagement, alongside the wider GST consultancy workflow.

Different notices call for different replies, but a few principles apply across the board. Therefore, every notice handling engagement starts from this baseline.

Ignoring a GST notice is one of the most expensive choices a business can make. Therefore, even where a position is defensible on the merits, the procedural cost of non-response is rarely worth it.

Our practice covers every realistic GST notice profile. Therefore, the approach changes with the kind of notice, the underlying issue, and the urgency.

Our GST notice practice spans every business profile that interacts with the GST department. Therefore, we tailor every engagement to the kind of notice and the urgency.