Cabinet clears setting up of national bench of GST appellate tribunal

The Union Cabinet Wednesday approved setting up of the national bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal which will act as forum for second appeal in case of dispute and expedite resolution of disputes. The national bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal to be located in the capital, would have one technical member each from Centre and states and a President.

"The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the creation of National Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)," an official statement said. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the national bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal will expedite resolution of disputes under GST laws and will also decide on disputes among states.

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and comprising state counterparts, in December decided to establish the centralised appellate authority. The creation of the national bench of the GSTAT would amount to one time expenditure of Rs 92.50 lakh while the recurring expenditure would be Rs 6.86 crore per annum, the statement said.

The national bench of the GST Appellate Tribunal is the forum of second appeal in GST laws and the first common forum of dispute resolution between Centre and states, the statement said. The first appeal against the orders of adjudicating authority shall lie before the appellate authority of the states.

"Being a common forum, GST Appellate Tribunal (national bench) will ensure that there is uniformity in redressal of disputes arising under GST, and therefore, in implementation of GST across the country," the statement said. According to Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan Partner L Badri Narayanan said it will streamline process of appeal and hoped that the tribunal would take a judicious view of the dispute.

Under the current dispensation, GST taxpayers aggrieved with the decision of the assessing officer can file an appeal with the appellate commissioner, he said, adding "now he will have the option to file second appeal with the tribunal if he is not satisfied with the ruling of the appellate commissioner". The national appellate tribunal, Badri Narayanan further said, should also have judicial members as "on paper it looks that the tribunal is skewed in favour of the department".

EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said, "This would be the forum for second appeal in the GST regime. While typically not many litigations should have been adjudicated, still early formation of this Appellate Authority would help prevent any unwarranted delays in the adjudication of appeals to be filed in the future." PTI JD MJH CS MKJ