Ahead of the much-awaited formation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Appellate Tribunals, the number of pending appeals from taxpayers over central GST levies has spiked sharply to over 14,000 by the end of the first quarter of 2023-24, 20% higher than such pending cases as on March 31 this year.
The GST Council had cleared the way for the setting up of GST Appellate Tribunals across the country at its meeting on July 11, and the government had indicated it will aim to make the first set of tribunals operational sometime between November 2023 and January 2024.
Responding to a query from Lok Sabha MP A Ganeshamurthi from the DMK, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said the plan is to establish the State benches in a phased manner based on the request of States. Mr. Chaudhary also shared details of the number of GST appeals related to central GST authorities that are pending at various levels.
As per the data, these pending appeals stood at 5,499 cases as of March 31, 2021, which rose to 9,759 by the end of the next fiscal. As of June 30 this year, the total number of appeals from tax payers pending with central GST authorities stood at 14,227.
Tax experts suggested this spike may be linked to the two-month GST compliance drive undertaken by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs since May, and taxpayers opting to wait for the tribunals to kick off rather than approach the High Courts.
“As GST audits and investigations are happening in full flow, there is a rise in the number of appeals as well,” explained Abhishek A Rastogi, founder of Rastogi Chambers. “Further, the High Courts in several cases have ruled that the appeals before the tribunal can be filed within three months of formation of the tribunal. Hence, the taxpayers have now opted to go through the Appellate route rather than the writ jurisdiction route,” he added.
