Taxpayers do not respond to notices and summons issued by the authorities on the pretext that the Portal was not working or that they did not check its contents.
This plea will no longer be available as per a recent judgement of the Delhi High Court in SANDEEP GARG versus SALES TAX OFFICER CLASS II AVATO WARD 66 ZONE4 DELHI W.P.(C) 5846/2025, CM APPLs. 26721/2025 & 26722/2025.
The assessee pleaded that the accountant of the Petitioner was not accessing the portal as it was not working at that time and, therefore, the reply to the show-cause notice could not be filed.
However, the Court rejected the submission with the finding “Since the Petitioner has not been diligent in checking the portal, no reply to the Show Cause Notice has been filed by the Petitioner. Thus the department cannot be blamed”.
Thankfully, the Court was magnanimous and gave the taxpayer one more chance. " the Petitioner is permitted to file an appeal against the impugned order before the Appellate Authority under Section 107 of the Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 along with the pre-deposit on the tax amount in terms of the said provision. If the said appeal is filed within the 30 days, it shall be adjudicated on the merits and not be dismissed on the ground of limitation", it held.