GST Appellate Tribunal Should Get Its Members Without Delay, Over 14,000 Appeals Pending Already
Since the inception of Goods and Services Tax (GST), taxpayers have witnessed plethora of disputes — ranging from rates, refunds, and classification, to online gaming, and input tax credit eligibility. In the absence of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), an effective appellate remedy was not functional, leading to tax payers running to courts for relief. Further, due to the absence of specialised branches of GST tribunals, all GST-related matters were being referred to High Courts, causing challenges to the tax payers and huge burden on the jurisdictional high courts. As of August 2023, according to a parliamentary response, a total of 14,227 GST appeals were pending.
The GST Council in its 50th meet approved the formation of GSTAT, stating that it shall come into effect from August 1, 2023, and that necessary rules shall be passed to allow appointment of its president and members.
Consequently, on September 14, 2023, the constitution of 31 GST appellate tribunals across the 28 states and eight union territories was notified, establishing a clear mandate to resolve rising disputes of the taxpayers with the revenue department. Further, the National Bench of GSTAT was constituted in Delhi vide a notification dated December 29, 2023, which is to be headed by a national president and comprising a judicial member, a technical member each from the Centre and the state. Similarly, constitution of state benches along with the qualification of members was notified too.
A judicial member is an expert on legal procedure, who are usually active or retired judges, while the technical member is an expert in areas such as taxation, finance, accounting, usually bureaucrats who retired from the finance ministry.