‘Expect GST Appellate Tribunals by around July or August’
The much-awaited Goods and Services Tax (GST) Appellate Tribunals, intended to resolve taxpayer disputes under the six-and-a-half years old indirect tax regime, may begin operations around July or August, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra told The Hindu in an interview on Saturday.
“The process has been initiated. Very soon, you are going to see an advertisement in the media for the process of selection of the members and the president. And we hope that, quickly, in a period of six months or so from now, we are able to put some of the tribunals in place,” Mr. Malhotra said.
“There are 31 benches spread over about 50 locations, most of which should become operational by July-August… so we should be in a position to do this soon after the new government takes charge,” he noted.
Introduced on July 1, 2017, the GST framework included provisions to constitute Appellate Tribunals as the second appellate authority for hearing appeals against the orders passed by the Appellate Authority under the Central and State GST laws. However, in their absence, taxpayers have been compelled to seek relief from the High Courts, with the number of appeals under central GST laws having risen to about 15,000 by October 31 – 25% higher than the pending cases as on March 31 last year.
