GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)

GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT)

Subject :Polity

Section: Federalism

Concept :

• The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council recently accepted the Group of Ministers’ (GoM) recommendations on long pending constitution of GST appellate tribunal in the country.

GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT):

• The Central Goods and Service Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) in Section 109 mandates for the constitution of a GSTAT and its Benches.
• The GSTAT will be the specialized appellate authority for resolving disputes under the GST laws.

Composition:

• The GST Tribunal will have one principal bench in New Delhi and as many benches or boards in states as decided by each state, subject to approval of the council.
• North-eastern states could opt for one bench for 2-3 states and an additional bench for very far-flung areas.
• The principal bench and state boards would have two technical and two judicial members each, with equal representation from the Centre and states.
• All four members would not sit for hearing each case. It depends on the threshold or value of dues involved.