Library / Goods and Services Tax: The Professional's Master Guide

Appendix A: Section Map of the CGST Act, 2017

The CGST Act has 174 sections arranged in 21 chapters, followed by three Schedules. Several sections have been inserted since 2017 with letter suffixes (for example 11A, 74A, 128A and 148A), and a few have been omitted (for example sections 42, 43 and 43A on invoice matching). The chapter map below helps locate a provision quickly. The SGST Acts follow the same numbering, so the same map works for State law.

Chapter	Subject	Sections
I	Preliminary (short title, definitions)	1 to 2
II	Administration	3 to 6
III	Levy and collection of tax	7 to 11A
IV	Time and value of supply	12 to 15
V	Input tax credit	16 to 21
VI	Registration	22 to 30
VII	Tax invoice, credit and debit notes	31 to 34
VIII	Accounts and records	35 to 36
IX	Returns	37 to 48
X	Payment of tax	49 to 53A
XI	Refunds	54 to 58
XII	Assessment	59 to 64
XIII	Audit	65 to 66
XIV	Inspection, search, seizure and arrest	67 to 72
XV	Demands and recovery	73 to 84
XVI	Liability to pay in certain cases	85 to 94
XVII	Advance ruling	95 to 106
XVIII	Appeals and revision	107 to 121
XIX	Offences and penalties	122 to 138
XX	Transitional provisions	139 to 142
XXI	Miscellaneous	143 to 174

The three Schedules carry much of the law on the meaning of supply: Schedule I lists activities treated as supply even without consideration, Schedule II decides whether an activity is a supply of goods or of services, and Schedule III lists activities that are neither goods nor services.

Frequently used sections in plain words

The sections met most often in returns, audits and notices are summarised below. Read the section itself before giving an opinion.

Section	What it deals with
2(6)	Aggregate turnover: all taxable, exempt, export and inter-State supplies on one PAN, excluding taxes and inward reverse charge supplies
2(17)	Business: wide meaning, includes trade, profession, vocation and incidental activities
2(52), 2(102)	Goods and services: services means anything other than goods, money and securities
7	Scope of supply; Schedules I, II and III
8	Composite supply (principal supply rate) and mixed supply (highest rate)
9	Levy of CGST; 9(3) reverse charge on notified supplies; 9(4) reverse charge on notified supplies from unregistered persons; 9(5) e-commerce operator liable
10	Composition levy for small taxpayers; 10(2A) option for service providers
11	Power to grant exemption by notification
11A	Power not to recover tax short levied due to a general practice
12	Time of supply of goods
13	Time of supply of services
14	Time of supply where the rate of tax changes
15	Value of taxable supply: transaction value, inclusions and discounts
16	Eligibility and conditions for ITC; 16(2)(aa) GSTR-2B; 16(2)(c) tax paid by supplier; 16(4) time limit
17	Apportionment of credit (17(1) to (4)) and blocked credits (17(5))
18	ITC on new registration, composition exit, change in constitution; reversal on exempt supplies or cancellation
19	ITC on inputs and capital goods sent for job work
20	Input Service Distributor: manner of distribution
22	Threshold for registration
24	Compulsory registration regardless of turnover
25	Procedure for registration; distinct persons for each State
27	Casual taxable person and non-resident taxable person
29	Cancellation or suspension of registration
30	Revocation of cancellation
31	Tax invoice; bill of supply; receipt, refund and payment vouchers
32	Prohibition of unauthorised collection of tax
34	Credit notes and debit notes; 34(2) time limit and recipient reversal condition
36	Retention of accounts: 72 months from the due date of the annual return
37	Outward supplies statement (GSTR-1); rectification time limit
38	Auto-generated ITC statement (GSTR-2B)
39	Returns (GSTR-3B, GSTR-4, GSTR-5, GSTR-6, GSTR-7); three-year bar
44	Annual return (GSTR-9) and reconciliation statement (GSTR-9C)
45	Final return (GSTR-10) on cancellation
46	Notice to return defaulters (GSTR-3A)
47	Late fee
49	Payment of tax; electronic cash, credit and liability ledgers
49A, 49B	Order of utilisation of ITC
50	Interest on delayed payment and on wrongly availed and utilised ITC
51	Tax deduction at source by Government bodies
52	Tax collection at source by e-commerce operators
54	Refund of tax, including zero-rated supplies and inverted duty structure
56	Interest on delayed refunds
60	Provisional assessment
61	Scrutiny of returns
62	Best judgement assessment of non-filers
63	Assessment of unregistered persons
64	Summary assessment in special cases
65	Audit by tax authorities
66	Special audit by a chartered accountant or cost accountant
67	Inspection, search and seizure
68	Inspection of goods in movement
69	Power to arrest
70	Power to summon persons to give evidence
73	Demands, non-fraud cases (FY 2017-18 to FY 2023-24)
74	Demands, fraud or suppression cases (FY 2017-18 to FY 2023-24)
74A	Single demand provision from FY 2024-25 onwards
75	General provisions on demands: hearing, adjournments, order within notice
76	Tax collected but not paid to the Government
78	Recovery starts three months after the order
79	Modes of recovery
80	Payment in instalments (up to 24 monthly instalments)
83	Provisional attachment of property
85 to 94	Liability in transfer of business, amalgamation, liquidation, of directors, partners and legal heirs
95 to 106	Advance rulings (AAR and AAAR); 101A and 101B national appellate authority
107	Appeal to Appellate Authority
108	Revision by Revisional Authority
109 to 112	Appellate Tribunal and appeals to it
117, 118	Appeals to High Court and Supreme Court
120	Monetary limits for departmental appeals
122	Penalty for specified offences
122B	Penalty for breach of track and trace requirements
125	General penalty
126	No penalty for minor breaches and bona fide errors
128A	Waiver of interest and penalty for FY 2017-18 to 2019-20 (section 73 cases)
129	Detention, seizure and release of goods in transit
130	Confiscation of goods or conveyances
132	Punishment for offences (prosecution)
138	Compounding of offences
140	Transitional credit
143	Job work procedure
148A	Track and trace mechanism for notified goods
155	Burden of proof on the person claiming ITC
161	Rectification of errors apparent on record
168A	Extension of time limits in special circumstances
171	Anti-profiteering

Key point

SGST Acts follow the CGST numbering. Check that a notice is issued by the correct authority and cites both laws where both taxes are demanded.

Key sections of the IGST Act, 2017

The IGST Act borrows most procedure from the CGST Act (section 20) and has its own rules on levy, nature of supply and place of supply.

Section	What it deals with
2(6)	Export of services: the five conditions
2(13)	Intermediary
5	Levy of IGST; 5(3) and 5(4) reverse charge; 5(5) e-commerce operator
7	Inter-State supply, including imports, exports and supplies to or by SEZs
8	Intra-State supply
10	Place of supply of goods (other than imports and exports)
11	Place of supply of goods imported or exported
12	Place of supply of services where supplier and recipient are in India
13	Place of supply of services where supplier or recipient is outside India; 13(8)(b) omitted from 30 March 2026
14	OIDAR services supplied from outside India to non-taxable online recipients
16	Zero-rated supply: exports and supplies to SEZ units or developers
17	Apportionment of IGST and settlement of funds
19	Refund where tax is paid under the wrong head
20	Application of the CGST Act