According to a source, the government plans to operationalize every bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) by January 2025 in an effort to reduce the substantial backlog of unresolved GST-related appeals at the appellate level. The insider further stated that the GSTAT's main bench in New Delhi is anticipated to open for business in July.
As the President of the GSTAT, Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, a former chief judge of the Jharkhand High Court, was sworn in by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on May 6. "Mishra's appointment marks the beginning of the operationalization of the GSTAT, a crucial body for resolving GST-related disputes," the finance ministry stated in a news statement.
As of June 2023, the finance ministry's answer to the Parliament disclosed that there were up to 14,227 ongoing appeals against contested tax claims made by the Central GST authority.
According to Krishan Arora, a partner at Grant Thornton Bharat, "the swift operationalization of GSTATs is crucial to bolster assessee's confidence in the overall judicial system." "In the absence of operational GSTATs, many assessees were directly approaching High Courts to seek relief, and courts frequently refused to hear such matters," he added. "It would help mitigate overall litigation time and costs." The Central GST Act, 2017 created the GSTAT as the appellate authority to consider a variety of challenges against the decisions made by the first appellate authority. It is composed of many state benches and the Principal Bench, located in New Delhi. The government has announced 31 state benches located around the nation, in accordance with the GST Council's approval.
The procedure for appointing technical and judicial members is now underway.Individuals with a legal expertise and judicial experience, who are frequently active or retired judges, make up the judicial members of GSTATs. Their responsibilities include providing legal advice, interpreting rules and laws, and making sure that appeals are decided in line with established legal precedents and principles. Experts in disciplines like taxation, finance, accounting, or economics make up technical members. They add to the tribunal's discussions by providing technical knowledge on GST regulations, computations, and business procedures.
Ankur Gupta, Practice Leader-Indirect Tax at SW India, stated that "the combination of judicial and technical expertise within GSTATs should ensure a comprehensive and balanced approach to resolving GST-related appeals."
The deadline for filing an appeal with the GSTAT is set to begin on the day the GSTAT president "enters office," under the CGST (9th Removal of Difficulties) Order 2019.
"One may reasonably argue that the president of GSTAT has 'taken office,' even though the nominations of additional Judicial and Technical Members (as well as the necessary physical and IT infrastructure) are still waiting. The statute of limitations for submitting appeals might theoretically run out if the GSTAT isn't operational as soon as possible, causing needless worry for taxpayers and wasteful litigation, according to Sudipta Bhattacharjee, a partner at Khaitan & Co.
