GST Consultant Services, Simplified for You with TaxCaller

GST is a self-assessed tax. You decide your own tax, file your own returns and claim your own credit. The department checks later. That check can come years after the return. A GST consultant helps you get the first filing right and defend it when the department asks questions.

In practical terms, our experts do five kinds of work:

• Disputes: reading notices, drafting replies, preparing for personal hearings and filing appeals.
• Money back: refund claims for exports, inverted duty and excess cash balance.
• Credit control: matching your purchase register with GSTR-2B and fixing gaps before they become demands.
• Advice: tax rates, HSN or SAC codes, place of supply, reverse charge, contracts and invoices.
• Checks: health checks, annual return review and support during audits.

A consultant does not replace your accountant. Your accountant keeps the books. The consultant reads the law against those books and tells you where the risk sits.

Any registered person can face a GST question. Some moments make expert help sensible rather than optional:

• You receive a notice in FORM GST ASMT-10, DRC-01A, DRC-01, ADT-01 or a summons.
• Your registration is suspended or cancelled, or a physical verification is due.
• You export goods or services and need a LUT or a refund.
• Your credit in GSTR-3B is higher than GSTR-2B shows, and the portal flags it.
• You cross ₹5 crore turnover and must start e-invoicing.
• You sign a large contract and are unsure of the rate, place of supply or reverse charge.
• An order has gone against you and the appeal clock has started.

We work with traders, manufacturers, exporters, e-commerce sellers, IT and service firms, contractors, restaurants, clinics and startups. Each sector has its own GST traps. A contractor worries about works contract rates. An exporter worries about refunds. A seller on a marketplace worries about TCS and stock in other states.

What you gain: fewer missed deadlines, credit claimed only where the law allows it, replies that answer the actual charge, and a written record of every step. You also get time back. Your team runs the business while the expert handles the department.

Choose one task or ask for ongoing support. Every engagement starts with a free call so we can understand the scope.

New registration and regular return filing have their own pages: GST registration and GST return filing. If you also need books kept, see accounting and bookkeeping.

Not every notice is a demand. The form number tells you how serious it is. Read it first, then act.

Which section applies? The Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024 split demand cases by year. Sections 73 and 74 now apply to tax up to Financial Year 2023-24. Section 74A applies to tax for Financial Year 2024-25 onwards.

Under Section 74A(1), no notice is issued if the unpaid tax for a year is below ₹1,000. Check the section quoted in your notice. A notice for FY 2024-25 that quotes Section 73 or 74 instead of Section 74A can be questioned on that point. You can read the current text of each section on the CBIC GST website.

If an order goes against you, the law gives you three levels of appeal. Each has a strict clock.

1. First appeal (Section 107): file FORM GST APL-01 online within 3 months of the date the order is communicated. For sufficient cause, the Appellate Authority can allow one more month. You must pay the admitted amount in full and 10% of the disputed tax, capped at ₹20 crore under the CGST Act (the cap was cut from ₹25 crore by the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2024). The authority should try to decide within one year.
2. Tribunal appeal (Section 112): appeal to the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) within 3 months of the first appeal order. The tribunal can admit a late appeal within 3 more months for sufficient cause. Pre-deposit is a further 10% of the remaining disputed tax, capped at ₹20 crore. For penalty-only orders, 10% of the penalty applies.
3. High Court (Section 117): an appeal lies only on a substantial question of law, within 180 days of the tribunal order.

GSTAT status in 2026: the tribunal was launched on 24 September 2025, with a Principal Bench in New Delhi and 31 State Benches at 45 locations (PIB release on the GSTAT launch). Appeals are filed online on the GSTAT e-filing portal. The window for backlog appeals was first set at 30 June 2026. On 30 June 2026 it was extended to 31 July 2026 for orders communicated before 1 May 2026. For orders communicated on or after 1 May 2026, the normal 3-month limit under Section 112(1) applies. That backlog window has now closed, so any new tribunal appeal must meet the 3-month rule.

A good appeal is built at the reply stage. Facts and documents you never placed before the officer are hard to bring in later. That is why we treat every SCN reply as if it will be read by the tribunal.

Refund claims fail more often on paperwork than on law. We check eligibility first, then build the claim.

• Who can claim: exporters of goods or services under LUT, suppliers to SEZ units, businesses with an inverted duty structure, and anyone with excess balance in the electronic cash ledger.
• Form and time limit: FORM GST RFD-01 on the portal, within 2 years from the relevant date (Section 54(1) and Rule 89).
• Provisional refund: for zero-rated supplies, 90% can be released provisionally under Section 54(6). From 1 November 2026, this also covers inverted duty refunds.
• Interest on delay: if the refund is not paid within 60 days of a complete application, interest is due under Section 56 at the notified rate, which the Act caps at 6% a year. Where the refund flows from an appeal or court order, the cap is 9%.
• Embassies and UN bodies: holders of a Unique Identity Number claim refunds of tax paid on purchases under Section 55, through their own refund form.

LUT: to export without paying IGST, file a Letter of Undertaking in FORM GST RFD-11 under Rule 96A before you export. It is filed online for each financial year. There is no government fee. If goods are not exported within the allowed time, tax with interest becomes payable. Most exporters should file the LUT in early April so the new year starts clean.

Input tax credit (ITC) is where most GST demands begin. The law sets several conditions:

• The supplier must have reported the invoice, so that it shows in your GSTR-2B (Section 16(2)(aa)).
• You must have received the goods or services, and the supplier must have paid the tax.
• Credit must be claimed by 30 November after the end of the financial year, or the annual return date if earlier (Section 16(4)).
• If you do not pay the supplier within 180 days, the credit is reversed under Rule 37.
• If the supplier has not filed GSTR-3B for the period, Rule 37A asks you to reverse the credit until the supplier files.
• Blocked credits under Section 17(5), such as most motor vehicle and personal-use items, cannot be claimed at all.

Our monthly reconciliation compares your purchase register with GSTR-2B and the Invoice Management System (IMS). We list missing invoices, wrong GSTINs, duplicate claims and suppliers who have not filed. You get a short action list, not a long report.

GST health check: once a year, we review your GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, GSTR-2B, e-way bills and books together. We look for the gaps that trigger ASMT-10, DRC-01B and DRC-01C. Finding them yourself costs a correction. Having the officer find them costs interest and possibly a penalty.

Many disputes start with a single wrong decision on an invoice. Advice before the sale is cheaper than a reply after the notice.

• Rates and classification: the right HSN or SAC code and rate. Rates were restructured into mainly 5% and 18%, with a 40% rate for a few goods and services, from 22 September 2025 (PIB release on the 56th GST Council meeting).
• Place and time of supply: whether a sale is intra-state or inter-state, and when tax is due.
• Reverse charge: services such as legal fees and goods transport where the buyer pays the tax.
• Contracts: how GST clauses, discounts, advances and cross-charges between branches should be written.
• Price changes: passing on rate cuts to buyers, as Section 171 expects.
• Advance ruling: help to decide whether a binding ruling under Section 97 is worth seeking.

E-invoice: businesses whose aggregate turnover in a financial year has crossed ₹5 crore must issue e-invoices for B2B supplies (Rule 48(4), Notification 10/2023-Central Tax, from 1 August 2023). We help you set up the flow, report invoices on time and fix rejected invoices.

E-way bill: needed under Rule 138 when goods worth more than ₹50,000 move. We advise on Part A and Part B, validity, transport changes and what to do if goods are detained.

Customs duty is a separate law. If your issue is mainly customs, we tell you so on the first call.

The department can examine your records in several ways. Each has its own rules.

• Scrutiny (Section 61): a desk check of returns. It leads to ASMT-10 if the officer sees a gap.
• Departmental audit (Section 65): you get FORM GST ADT-01 at least 15 working days before the audit. The audit should finish within 3 months, extendable by up to 6 months. Findings come in ADT-02.
• Special audit (Section 66): ordered when value or credit looks abnormal. A chartered or cost accountant nominated by the Commissioner examines your books. The report is due in 90 days, extendable by 90 more.
• Inspection and search (Section 67): authorised officers can inspect premises and records.
• Summons (Section 70): you may be called to give evidence or produce documents.

We prepare reconciliations that auditors ask for: turnover in books vs GSTR-1, tax paid vs GSTR-3B, and credit in books vs GSTR-2B. We also review your GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C before filing, because the annual return is the base date for the limitation period in Sections 73, 74 and 74A.

Under CBIC Circular 122/41/2019-GST, summons, search authorisations, inspection notices and enquiry letters from central tax officers must quote a Document Identification Number (DIN). Without one, they are treated as invalid unless a listed exception applies. We check that too.

Knowing the limits helps you hire well and avoid people who promise too much.

A consultant can:

• Prepare returns, statements, refund claims and replies for you.
• As an enrolled GST practitioner under Section 48 and Rule 83, file returns, refund claims and registration changes once you authorise them on the portal.
• Appear before an officer, the Appellate Authority or the tribunal as your authorised representative, if they fall in a category under Section 116(2). These are a relative or regular employee, an advocate, a practising chartered accountant, cost accountant or company secretary, a qualified retired officer, or an enrolled GST practitioner.
• Explain your options, including when paying early is cheaper than fighting.

A consultant cannot:

• Take over your legal responsibility. Under Section 48(3), the registered person stays responsible for what is filed.
• File without your approval. You confirm practitioner filings by email or SMS (Rule 83), and returns are verified with your EVC or DSC.
• Appear for you where the law needs you in person, such as examination on oath.
• Argue a writ or appeal in the High Court unless they are an advocate.
• Promise that a demand will be dropped. Outcomes depend on facts, records and the officer.

Use this checklist before you hire anyone, including us:

1. Check standing. Ask whether they are an enrolled GST practitioner, an advocate, or a practising CA, CS or CMA. Ask who will appear if a hearing is needed.
2. Ask about similar cases. A refund for an exporter is different from a fraud SCN. Ask what they have handled before.
3. Get the scope in writing. Reply only, or reply plus hearing? First appeal included or not?
4. Get the fee in writing. It should show the professional fee, GST on it, and government payments separately.
5. Check how they protect data. A good consultant does not need your portal password if you can engage them as a practitioner on the portal.
6. Test response time. Notices have short deadlines. Ask how fast they reply on working days.
7. Watch for red flags. Anyone who promises a result, suggests fake invoices or asks you to backdate documents puts you at risk under Section 122 and Section 132.

You can check the enrolment of a GST practitioner by searching on the GST portal.

Scans or phone photos are fine for the first review. Send what you have. We tell you what is missing.

1. Share the problem. Fill the form, call or send the notice on WhatsApp.
2. Free first call. Our expert reads the notice, tells you the deadline and explains the options.
3. Scope and fee. We confirm what we will do and our fee before any work starts.
4. Access without passwords. Where possible, you engage our practitioner on the portal through the engage option, so you keep control of your login.
5. Review and reconcile. We match returns, books and portal data and find the real cause of the gap.
6. Draft. You get the reply, claim or return in draft with a short note on each point.
7. You approve, we file. Filing happens only after your approval. You verify with OTP, EVC or DSC.
8. Follow up. We track hearings, orders and the next deadline, and keep copies of every acknowledgement.

All of this works online. You can also meet our team at the Ghaziabad office during business hours.

Our turnaround: we aim to share a first view on a notice within one working day of receiving it. Draft time depends on data size and is agreed on the first call. Send notices early. A reply drafted in the last two days is rarely the strongest one.

Two kinds of money are involved in GST work. Keep them apart.

1. Payments to the government (paid by you, directly, at actual):

• Filing a reply, refund claim or LUT on the portal: no government fee.
• First appeal: no filing fee, but a pre-deposit of 10% of disputed tax under Section 107(6).
• Tribunal appeal: a further 10% pre-deposit under Section 112(8), plus the filing fee prescribed under Rule 110(5), which is capped at ₹25,000.
• Advance ruling: ₹5,000 under Rule 104 of the CGST Rules, plus the fee under the State GST law.
• Any tax, interest, late fee or penalty that is actually due.

Pre-deposit is not a cost if you win. It is refunded with interest.

2. TaxCaller's professional fee: the fee depends on the task. A single ASMT-10 reply is different from a fraud SCN with a hearing. Our fees start at ₹799 + GST for an expert call, ₹2,499 + GST for a notice reply and ₹4,999 + GST a month for ongoing support. Our expert confirms the exact scope on the first call, before any work starts. TaxCaller's fee is charged + GST. Government fees, pre-deposits, tax, interest and penalties are paid separately at actual and are never part of our fee.

For a quick tax estimate before the call, try our free tax tools.

Interest is automatic. Penalty depends on the section and on how fast you act. Paying tax and interest early, where the demand is clearly correct, often cuts the penalty to nil or a small share.

• Not checking the portal. Notices are served on the GST portal and by email. Many businesses learn of a demand only when their bank account is attached.
• Missing the reply date. An order passed without your reply is much harder to fight.
• Replying with opinions, not evidence. Officers act on reconciliations and documents.
• Ignoring the section number. A notice under the wrong section or out of time can fail on that point.
• Skipping the personal hearing. Section 75(4) gives you a right to be heard before an adverse order. Use it.
• Claiming credit from non-filers. Credit not in GSTR-2B is the top reason for DRC-01C.
• Filing an appeal without pre-deposit. The appeal cannot proceed until it is paid.
• Paying under protest without recording it. Use DRC-03 with a clear note, so the payment is linked to the case.
• Letting returns age. Returns older than 3 years from the due date can no longer be filed on the portal.

These are the 2026 changes that matter most for notices, appeals and refunds:

1. GSTAT is running. After its launch in September 2025, the tribunal took backlog appeals until 31 July 2026 (extended from 30 June 2026 by a notification of 30 June 2026 under Section 112). New appeals now follow the 3-month limit. See Section 112 on the CBIC tax information portal.
2. Finance Act, 2026 changes in force from 1 November 2026 (Notification 03/2026-Central Tax, 26 October 2026):
   • Post-sale discounts: under amended Section 15(3)(b) and Section 34(1), a discount can be kept out of value if a credit note is issued and the buyer reverses the matching ITC. A prior agreement is no longer needed.
   • Provisional refunds under Section 54(6) now also cover inverted duty structure refunds.
   • Section 54(14) no longer blocks small refund claims for goods exported on payment of tax.
3. Faster refund processing. From 1 November 2026, the CGST (Amendment) Rules, 2026 (Notification 05/2026-Central Tax, 26 October 2026) cut the refund acknowledgement period under Rule 90 from 15 to 10 days. If the officer does not act in time, the claim is deemed acknowledged. For inverted duty refunds under Rule 89(5), ITC on input services availed on or after 1 November 2026 now counts. Both changes follow the 57th GST Council's recommendations (PIB release on the 57th GST Council reforms).
4. Section 74A cases are now live. Section 74A covers tax for FY 2024-25 onwards. Demands for those years follow Section 74A, not Sections 73 or 74.
5. Proposals not yet law. The 57th GST Council, meeting on 8 October 2026, recommended no SCN where tax is under ₹10,000, a 5% penalty for quick payment after an order, a lower general penalty of ₹10,000 and tighter rules for e-way bill interception. These are recommendations only. They apply once Parliament or the government notifies them, and we will update this page when they do.
6. Rule 86A hearing, from April 2027. A new procedure lets you object to blocked credit and be heard before the officer decides. It has been notified in the same CGST (Amendment) Rules, 2026, but starts only on 1 April 2027.

• Serving clients since 2018. TaxCaller India LLP (LLPIN AAQ-7388) works from Ghaziabad and online across India.
• Reviewed content. Our GST pages are reviewed by Abhinay Rai, Advocate.
• Fee before work. You know our fee, and what the government will collect, before we start.
• You stay in control. Nothing is filed without your approval.
• Plain language. We explain the notice in simple words, in English or Hindi.

State and city note: GST is administered by both the Centre and the states. Your registration certificate shows whether you fall under central or state jurisdiction. In Uttar Pradesh, many taxpayers are under the State Tax department, others under CGST commissionerates. The law and forms are the same. Only the office and officer differ. We handle cases for businesses in Ghaziabad, Noida, Delhi, Gurgaon, Agra and other cities, all online.

Business hours: Monday to Friday 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, Saturday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Reach us through the contact page.

• GST registration: new GSTIN, composition or regular scheme.
• GST return filing: GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, GSTR-9 every period.
• Accounting and bookkeeping: clean books that support your GST data.
• Tax consultant: income tax planning and notices.
• Income tax filing: ITR for owners and firms.
• TDS return filing: quarterly TDS returns.
• Company registration and MSME registration for new businesses.

Official references: GST portal, CBIC GST website, GSTAT e-filing portal.