GST Council Extends Tenure Of Presidents And Members Of GST Tribunal

The GST Council, in its 52nd meeting held on Saturday, led by the Union Finance Minister and attended by state counterparts, decided to extend the tenure of the presidents and the members of the GST Tribunal.

Earlier, the president’s tenure was fixed till the age of 67, which has been extended to the age of 70. Similarly, the previously fixed tenure for the members of the tribunal was 65 years, which has been extended till the age of 67 years.

Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also clarified that the advocates who could become judicial members in the tribunal and not the technical members would need to have a minimum experience of ten years.

These modifications align with the rulings of the Hon’ble Supreme Court as established by the Madras Bar Association (MBA)-III. As per this judgement, advocates with at least a decade of experience are now qualified for appointment as judicial members. Additionally, in accordance with MBA-IV, the retirement age for presidents has been extended from 67 years to 70 years, while for members, it has been increased from 65 to 67 years.

According to Parag Mehta, partner at N.A. Shah Associates, the modification to allow advocates with experience of at least 10 years to be judicial members satisfies the long-pending demand of the All India Federation Of Tax Practitioners (AIFTP) and other associations of tax rofessionals.

Considering this, there should now not be any objections by any Bar Council for constitution of Tribunal benches, he said.

Additionally, the minimum age of appointment of the president and the members, which was not specified earlier, has been fixed at 50 years.

Raghavan Ramabadran, Executive Partner at Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan, interestingly pointed out that the Madras Tax Bar, a group of tax lawyers practicing in the Madras High Court, filed a legal petition with the Supreme Court in September 2023, highlighting issues that have been rectified by the 52nd council meeting.

The Council also suggested that businesses unable to file appeals within the standard four-month window can take advantage of an amnesty scheme. They are allowed to submit appeals until March 31, 2024, with certain conditions, including making a pre-deposit payment of 12.5% of the disputed tax amount.

According to Smita Singh, partner at S&A Law Offices, It is important to note that due to Covid-19, assessment orders were also delayed. Thus, this is a welcome move and will help a large number of taxpayers, who were unable to file appeals in the past due to lapse of the limitation period, she said.