If you applied for waiver of interest and penalty under Section 128A and received a Rejection Order in Form SPL-07, the GST Portal now lets you challenge it online through Form APL-01. Here’s exactly how it works — and the traps to avoid before you click submit.
What Changed LIVE ON THE PORTAL
GSTN Advisory No. 615 enabled a functionality that many taxpayers had been waiting for: the ability to file an online appeal against a Rejection Order issued in Form SPL-07 under the Section 128A GST Amnesty Scheme. Until this was enabled, taxpayers whose waiver applications were rejected had no direct, structured way to contest that rejection on the portal — leaving them to simply live with the demand or pursue the matter offline.
Now, if your waiver application under Form SPL-01 or SPL-02 was rejected via SPL-07, you can file an appeal in Form APL-01 directly through the GST Portal, requesting the Appellate Authority to reconsider your waiver eligibility under Section 128A.
In one line: A rejected amnesty application is no longer a dead end — but the appeal, once filed, generally cannot be withdrawn, so it needs to be built on solid grounds the first time.
Section 128A Amnesty — A Quick Recap
Section 128A of the CGST Act, inserted via the Finance Act 2024 and effective from 1 November 2024, was designed to give taxpayers relief from interest and penalty on tax demands raised under Section 73 — specifically for the period 1 July 2017 to 31 March 2020, and only in cases not involving fraud, wilful misstatement, or suppression of facts.
The core condition
To avail the waiver, the taxpayer must pay the full tax amount demanded — interest and penalty are what gets waived, not the tax itself.
How to apply
Eligible taxpayers file Form SPL-01 (against a notice/statement) or Form SPL-02 (against a demand or appeal order), depending on the stage their case is at.
Withdrawing a pending appeal
Taxpayers with an appeal already pending against the underlying demand generally had to withdraw it before applying for the amnesty waiver — a step that matters a great deal if the waiver application is later rejected.
Once the proper officer reviews an SPL-01/SPL-02 application, the outcome is one of two orders: an Acceptance Order in Form SPL-05 (waiver granted, proceedings concluded), or a Rejection Order in Form SPL-07 (waiver denied). If the officer is inclined to reject, a Show Cause Notice is first issued in Form SPL-03, and the taxpayer gets a chance to reply in Form SPL-04 within one month before a final SPL-07 is issued.
What an SPL-07 Rejection Actually Means
An SPL-07 order means the proper officer was not satisfied — either with your original application or your reply to the SPL-03 show-cause notice — and has denied the waiver of interest and/or penalty. Practically, this means the amnesty route is closed for that demand, unless you now use the newly enabled appeal facility.
| Form | What It Is |
|---|---|
| SPL-01 | Waiver application against a notice or statement (pre-order stage) |
| SPL-02 | Waiver application against a demand order or order-in-appeal already issued |
| SPL-03 | Show-cause notice issued if the officer proposes to reject the application |
| SPL-04 | Taxpayer’s reply to the SPL-03 notice, to be filed within 1 month |
| SPL-05 | Acceptance order — waiver granted, proceedings concluded (not appealable) |
| SPL-07 | Rejection order — waiver denied; now appealable online via APL-01 |
| SPL-08 | Undertaking confirming no further appeal will be filed, where required |
Note the asymmetry here: an SPL-05 acceptance order cannot be appealed by the taxpayer (there’s nothing to contest once the waiver is granted), but an SPL-07 rejection order can now be challenged before the Appellate Authority under Section 107(1) of the CGST Act.
How to File the Online Appeal
Log in and navigate to My Applications
On the GST Portal, go to Services → User Services → My Applications, then select Application Type as “Appeal to Appellate Authority” and click New Application.
Select the correct Order Type
Under Order Type, choose “Waiver Application Rejection Order” — this routes your appeal specifically against the SPL-07, not a general demand order.
Enter the SPL-07 order details
Provide the SPL-07 order number and date of order exactly as they appear on the rejection order communicated to you.
State your grounds of appeal clearly
Set out specifically why the rejection was wrong — factual errors, misapplication of Section 128A conditions, or procedural lapses — supported by factual and legal justification, not general grievance.
Attach supporting documents
Upload prior correspondence, computation sheets, proof of full tax payment, and any declarations relevant to establishing your eligibility for the waiver.
Review carefully, then submit
Double-check every field and document before submitting — once filed, this appeal generally cannot be withdrawn. Submission generates an Acknowledgement Reference Number (ARN), trackable under My Applications → Submitted Applications → Track Status.
Two Paths After Rejection — Appeal or Restore
Not everyone should automatically file an appeal against the SPL-07. If you had originally withdrawn an appeal against the underlying demand notice in order to apply for the amnesty waiver, you have an alternative: restoring that original appeal instead of contesting the rejection.
Option A: Appeal the SPL-07
- File Form APL-01 challenging the rejection, seeking reconsideration under Section 128A
- Appropriate where you have a genuine, well-documented case that the officer erred
- Cannot be withdrawn once filed — treat this as a final decision
- If the Appellate Authority also rejects the appeal, you can still restore the original appeal by filing an undertaking (Form SPL-08) that you will not pursue further appeal on the waiver rejection
Option B: Restore the Original Appeal
- Skip the SPL-07 appeal and instead restore the appeal you had withdrawn to apply for the amnesty
- Done by navigating to Orders → Waiver Application → Case Folder → File Undertaking
- Appropriate where your grounds against the rejection are weak, but your original appeal on the merits of the demand itself was strong
- Keeps your case within the normal Section 107 appeal process, on the original demand
Important procedural notes
- If no appeal is filed against the SPL-07 within the prescribed window, the original appeal that was withdrawn to apply for the waiver is automatically restored.
- The appeal against SPL-07 must generally be filed within 3 months from the date of communication of the order — verify the exact due date shown on your portal record.
- You cannot file this appeal on partial tax payment — the amnesty scheme itself required full tax payment upfront, and that condition carries through to the appeal.
The Risks of Filing a Weak Appeal
This is not a low-stakes, try-your-luck filing. Tax professionals have flagged real risks in filing an appeal against SPL-07 without solid grounds.
No withdrawal once filed
Unlike some other appeal types where withdrawal is possible before admission, an appeal against SPL-07 generally cannot be withdrawn — file only when you’re certain of your grounds.
Greater scrutiny for high-value disputes
Rejections tied to larger disputed amounts tend to draw closer departmental attention on appeal — a thin appeal invites more scrutiny, not less.
Losing the fallback option
If you appeal and lose, restoring your original appeal requires an additional undertaking (SPL-08) and forecloses any further challenge to the waiver rejection itself.
Our Take: A Practitioner’s View
This facility genuinely helps taxpayers who applied for the Section 128A waiver in good faith and were rejected on debatable grounds — a mismatched computation, a procedural technicality, or a differing interpretation of eligibility conditions. For such cases, the online appeal route is worth pursuing, and doing so promptly matters given the three-month window.
But this is exactly the kind of filing where a rushed, self-drafted appeal can do more harm than good. Before filing, we recommend a clear-eyed assessment of two things: first, whether the rejection genuinely turned on an error by the officer versus a substantive eligibility gap; and second, whether your original appeal on the underlying demand (the one withdrawn to apply for amnesty) is strong enough that restoration might actually be the better route. Given that the SPL-07 appeal cannot be withdrawn once filed, this is a decision worth making with full information rather than under deadline pressure.
If your business has clients or internal teams sitting on SPL-07 rejections from the amnesty window, now is the time to pull the order, check the three-month clock, and decide which of the two paths genuinely serves the case — not just react to the fact that a button is now available on the portal.
Received an SPL-07 rejection order?
Our team can review your rejection order, assess whether an appeal or a restoration of your original appeal is the stronger path, and — if appeal is the right call — draft grounds that stand up to scrutiny before you file. Given the no-withdrawal rule, this is worth getting right the first time.
Quick FAQs
Is there a fee for filing an appeal against SPL-07?
Yes, standard Form APL-01 filing fee rules apply, calculated based on the disputed amount.
Can I appeal if I only paid part of the tax demanded?
No. The Section 128A waiver scheme requires full payment of the tax demanded upfront as a condition of eligibility, and this carries through to the appeal process — partial payment does not qualify.
What happens if the Appellate Authority also rejects my appeal?
You can restore your original appeal (the one withdrawn to apply for the amnesty) by filing an undertaking in Form SPL-08 confirming you will not pursue any further appeal specifically against the waiver rejection.
Can an SPL-05 acceptance order be appealed?
No. Where the waiver application is accepted and proceedings are concluded via SPL-05, there is nothing to appeal — the appeal route applies only to SPL-07 rejection orders.
What is the deadline to file this appeal?
Appeals against SPL-07 are generally required to be filed within 3 months from the date of communication of the order, under Section 107(1) of the CGST Act — always verify the exact date reflected on your portal record.