Section 74 of GST

Section 74 of the CGST Act, 2017, deals with the determination of tax not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded. The section provides that where a person has not paid tax or has short paid tax or has erroneously claimed a refund, the proper officer may serve a notice requiring him to show cause why tax should not be determined and paid. Now, regarding your question, the time limit for issuing a notice under Section 74 is three years from the due date for furnishing the annual return for the financial year to which the tax relates. However, if the tax not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded exceeds Rs. 5 lakhs, the time limit is five years. In your scenario, if a notice was issued under Section 74 for the year 2017-18 and no notice was issued for the same matter for 2018-19, the department can still invoke Section 74 for 2018-19 if the time limit has not expired. However, if the time limit for 2018-19 has expired (i.e., three years from the due date for furnishing the annual return for 2018-19), the department cannot invoke Section 74 for that year. It's important to note that Section 73 and Section 74 have different time limits. Section 73 deals with the determination of tax not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded due to fraud or willful misstatement or suppression of facts. The time limit for issuing a notice under Section 73 is five years from the due date for furnishing the annual return for the financial year to which the tax relates.