The government is likely to operationalise all the benches of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) by November-end, as it aims to alleviate the significant backlog of pending GST-related disputes at the appellate level, a senior official said.

“Most members (both judicial and technical) have been appointed, some are remaining. They will be appointed too in a few weeks,” the official said. As per official data, over 15,000 appeals against disputed tax demands raised by Central GST authorities were pending as of June 2023.

The GSTAT is the appellate authority established under the Central GST Act, 2017, to hear various appeals against the orders of the first appellate authority. It consists of a Principal Bench, in New Delhi, and various state benches. As per the approval of the GST Council, the government has notified 31 state benches at various locations across the country.

On May 6, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman administered the oath to Sanjaya Kumar Mishra, former chief justice of Jharkhand High Court, as the President of the GSTAT.

The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has also prepared the digital framework to digitise the entire process of dispute resolution in GSTAT, another official said. A portal is ready for this purpose, and will be operational once the benches start functioning.

Source: The Financial Express