At the end of the next year, the centre would have intended to set the GST appellate tribunals (GSTATs) in the country with the principal bench in New Delhi to solve the issues concerning the indirect tax and facilitate doing business and increase the collection of taxes.
Despite the launch of the GST, the country would be waiting for the appellate body to solve the issues regarding taxes. On August 18, the group of ministers (GoM) on tribunals called by Haryana deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala and concluded GSTAT shall get set up with a principal Bench in New Delhi and similar Benches at the state level.
A judge from the Supreme Court or the Chief Justice of a high court heads the appellate body. Each of the benches would comprise the judicial officer which is equal to the high court judge and a senior tax officer from either the Centre or state as a technical member. A state conducts the relaxation on the technical member’s nomination completing the needs of the states.
“If the GST Council takes a decision now (likely next month), we can incorporate changes in the CGST Act through the Finance Bill 2023 in the upcoming Budget. It could take about nine months to one year to set up the tribunals,”
Under the GST ambit, the process of the first appeal would emerge via individual officers however the other appeal against the orders of the first appellate council beneath the central and state tax administration comes with the GSTAT. Hence the same would be the first forum on which the adjudication procedure converges beneath all the Goods and Service Tax laws as well as all the tax administration. With the issued orders by the appellate authority, the assessees are dissatisfied and had gone before GSTAT rather than making their presence in respective high courts so that the caseload would get reduced.
Solving the issues and passing the order can support the revenue council to realise the higher tax revenues locked in the litigations. The same would lessen the assessees hardships.
A four-member search and selection committee, led by either the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or his representative judge from the Apex court, shall be provided with the chores with the appointment of members to the Benches. The same would comprise the president of the GSTAT, a central government secretary, and a state chief secretary. The chairperson would have the casting vote.
CGST act would get amended so as to provide it to all the benches of the same sort with the principal bench in New Delhi in which the Tribunals present would present. The present shall provide the business or the transfer of the cases to the benches. As per the eligibility criteria, the technical member from the centre would be the Indian revenue service officer who has been experienced with 25 years and the state officials would be needed to pose 25 years of experience that the states could recede when no specific individual discovered.
