Sections 46 and 62: What Happens When You Do Not File

Sections 46 and 62 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.

Non-filing does not sit unaddressed. It moves through a defined sequence, and there is exactly one point at which the taxpayer can stop it cheaply.

Section 46: where a registered person fails to furnish a return under s.39, s.44 or s.45, a notice is issued requiring him to furnish it within fifteen days — FORM GSTR-3A under Rule 68. Section 62(1): where he still fails, the proper officer may assess the tax liability to the best of his judgment, taking into account all relevant material, and issue an order within five years from the date specified under s.44 for furnishing the annual return. Section 62(2): where the valid return is furnished within sixty days of service of the assessment order, the order shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.

The sequence

1. Default. A return under s.39, s.44 or s.45 is not furnished by the due date.

2. Notice — GSTR-3A. Rule 68 requires a notice to be issued electronically to a registered person who fails to furnish a return under s.39, s.44, s.45 or s.52. Fifteen days to comply.

3. Best judgment order — ASMT-13. Where the person still does not file, Rule 100(1) requires the order under s.62 to be issued in FORM GST ASMT-13, and a summary to be uploaded electronically in FORM GST DRC-07.

4. The sixty-day window. Filing the valid return within sixty days of service of the order withdraws it.

5. Extended window on payment. The proviso to s.62(2): where the return is not furnished within sixty days, the person may furnish it within a further sixty days on payment of an additional late fee of one hundred rupees for each day of delay beyond the sixty days — and on doing so, the order is deemed withdrawn.

What "deemed to have been withdrawn" does not do

Section 62(2) closes: "...the said assessment order shall be deemed to have been withdrawn but the liability for payment of interest under sub-section (1) of section 50 or for payment of late fee under section 47 shall continue."

So the order goes; the interest and late fee stay. Filing within the window avoids the best judgment liability, not the consequences of the delay itself.

The best judgment assessment itself

"To the best of his judgment, taking into account all the relevant material which is available or which he has gathered."

In practice the officer works from:

• the person's GSTR-1 for the period, where filed;
• GSTR-2B — inward supplies, indicating scale;
• e-way bills generated;
• previous periods' returns;
• third-party data — TDS under s.51, TCS under s.52, income tax data, bank information.

An assessment built from GSTR-1 alone will typically allow no input tax credit, because the officer has no return declaring it. That is what makes a best judgment order so much larger than the actual liability, and why the sixty-day window is worth using.

After the windows close

The order stands, and:

• Section 78 — recovery proceedings may be initiated three months after the date of service of the order, or earlier where the proper officer considers it expedient in the interest of revenue, for reasons recorded in writing.
• Section 79 — recovery modes, including deduction from money owed, detention and sale of goods, garnishee proceedings on debtors and banks, distraint, and recovery as an arrear of land revenue.
• Appeal under s.107 — within three months, extendable by one, on payment of the pre-deposit of 10% of the disputed tax.
• Section 161 rectification — only for an error apparent on the face of the record, within six months of the order.

An appeal against a best judgment order is difficult, because the substantive answer is the return that was never filed. The appellate authority is being asked to substitute a figure the taxpayer could have supplied.

The interaction with the three-year bar

This is the change that makes the sixty-day window materially more important than it used to be.

Where the period is already barred under the three-year restriction, the return cannot be filed at all — so s.62(2) withdrawal is impossible. The best judgment order becomes the final word on that period. The three-year bar →

That converts a curable default into a permanent one, and it is the strongest reason to clear a backlog before periods close.

Key takeaways

• s.46 / Rule 68: GSTR-3A notice, fifteen days to file.
• s.62(1): best judgment order in ASMT-13, summary in DRC-07, within five years of the annual return due date.
• s.62(2): filing the valid return within sixty days withdraws the order.
• Proviso: a further sixty days on payment of ₹100 per day additional late fee.
• Interest and late fee survive the withdrawal.
• Where the period is barred by the three-year rule, withdrawal is impossible and the order stands.

Read next

• The Three-Year Bar on Filing GST Returns
• Section 47: Late Fee, and the Caps That Actually Apply
• Assessment Under GST: Self, Provisional and Best Judgment
• DRC-07: Understanding and Challenging an Assessment Order

Disclaimer: Positions stated as on 5 September 2026, based on the CGST Act and Rules as amended to 31 March 2026 (ICAI Bare Law, 12th edition).