Introduction

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Appellate Tribunals, eagerly anticipated to address taxpayer disputes within the six-and-a-half-year-old indirect tax regime, are set to commence operations around July or August.

What is GST Appellate Tribunal?

• The GST Appellate Tribunal is a quasi-judicial body proposed to be established to resolve disputes related to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India.
• It will function as an independent body to hear appeals against orders passed by the GST authorities or the Appellate Authority.
• The tribunal will be composed of a national bench and various regional benches, headed by a chairperson appointed by the central government.
• The proposed tribunal is expected to help expedite the resolution of disputes related to GST and reduce the burden on the judiciary.

Under GST, if a person is not satisfied with the decision passed by any lower court, an appeal can be raised to a higher court, the hierarchy for the same is as follows (from low to high):

1. Adjudicating Authority
2. Appellate Authority
3. Appellate Tribunal
4. High Court
5. Supreme Court

Need for such Tribunal

• Unburden judiciary: GST Appellate Tribunal will help resolve the rising number of disputes under the 68-month-old indirect tax regime that are now clogging High Courts and other judicial fora.
• Improve efficiency of GST System: Overall, the establishment of the GST Appellate Tribunal is expected to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the GST system in India.
• Independent mechanism: The proposed Tribunal will provide an independent and efficient mechanism for resolving disputes related to GST.
• Avoid tax evasion: It will help to expedite the resolution of disputes, reduce the burden on the judiciary, and promote greater certainty and predictability in the GST system.

Issues with present litigation

• Compliance issues: The GST system is relatively new in India, having been implemented in 2017, and there have been several issues with compliance and interpretation of rules and regulations.
• Complex adjudication hierarchy: The current dispute resolution mechanism involves multiple layers of adjudication, starting with the GST officer and as mentioned above.
• Time-consuming process: This process can be time-consuming, costly, and burdensome for taxpayers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.

Significance

• The creation of these tribunals had been in the pipeline since the implementation of the GST regime on July 1, 2017.
• The number of pending appeals by taxpayers related to central GST levies had surged to over 14,000 (June 2023).

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