New Delhi (Agency): The Indian Parliament was informed on Monday that there are currently 14,227 unresolved appeals against disputed Goods and Services Tax (GST) demands made by Central GST authorities. The situation is as of June 2023, marking an increased backlog in the resolution of these issues.
The Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, shared this information during the session. He mentioned that the 49th meeting of the GST Council approved the establishment of GST Appellate Tribunals across the country, aimed at addressing these disputes.
In a written response in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, Chaudhary elaborated, “It has been planned to establish the State benches in a phased manner based on the request of states.” This signifies a gradual approach to setting up these specialized tribunals, taking into account the specific requirements and requests of different Indian states.
Further, Chaudhary provided the specifics of the number of pending GST appeals against demands made by Central GST authorities. The data reveals that as of June 2023, during the fiscal year 2023-24, there were 14,227 pending appeals. This shows a marked increase from the 11,899 appeals that were still unresolved as of March 2023.
The introduction of GST Appellate Tribunal benches in various states is expected to facilitate faster resolution of these tax disputes. Currently, if taxpayers are not happy with the rulings of tax authorities, they must approach their respective High Courts. This process tends to be quite lengthy, as High Courts already have a significant backlog of cases. Additionally, they lack a specialized bench to deal with GST cases.
This initiative to set up specialized tribunals will provide taxpayers with a more efficient channel to resolve their grievances, and it’s expected to significantly reduce the backlog of cases. The move also signals the government’s efforts to streamline the dispute resolution process in the taxation domain, an important step for the ease of doing business in the country.