GST Council Meet: Tribunals To Be Operational Before Year-End

Every state has asked for benches, and we have decided not to deny any state the same. But the process of recruitment for these places will be time-consuming, and therefore, it will be done in a phased manner, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the 50th GST Council meeting on Tuesday.

Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said that they will start by providing benches in state capitals and in places where high court benches are. Proposals for 50 state benches across the country have been received till now, he said.

Malhotra said that rules for the GST Tribunals will be implemented on Aug. 1. The ministry expects the tribunals to be operational in the next four to six months, he said. "This is in line with our previous stand of making GST tribunals operational from this year itself."

Maharashtra Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said that the state has requested seven appellate benches. Four will be approved in the first phase and three in the next phase.

West Bengal has also requested the setting up of two benches.

The Goods and Services Tax, which was rolled out in 2017 after extensive deliberations for over a decade, promised an effective 'one nation, one tax' regime. The change has led to increased revenue for the exchequer and protection for taxpayers from a vicious cycle of cascading taxes.

One of the key features of the new framework was the establishment of an appellate tribunal, which has been on the industry’s wishlist for a long time.

The Group of Ministers on the Setting Up of GST Tribunals was formed in July 2022, but the council deferred its decision at its 48th meeting.

The Council then met on Feb. 18 and agreed to pass the Group of Ministers' report on the setting up of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal.

But the plan for the GST appellate tribunal system, which will replace the Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, is still unclear.

At the time, a senior official told BQ Prime on the condition of anonymity that it is likely to comprise a principal bench, which will look at cases regarding interstate supply and place of supply. And there would be separate benches that would hear matters related to state subjects, including rate of tax, exemptions, valuation, and input tax credit, in as much as they relate to intra-state affairs.

Experts have voiced concerns about having multiple state-level tribunals and manning the benches with enough judicial and technical members.