The 53rd Meeting of the Goods and Services Tax Council chaired by Nirmala Sitharaman has decided to recommend notification of a new date by the Government, from which the time limit of three months to file appeals at the GST Appellate Tribunal ( GSTAT ) will commence, giving taxpayers much needed relief from the confusion caused by the appointment and entry of the tribunal president.
The Goods and Services Tax Council ( GST Council ) has proposed the taxpayer-friendly change to the appeals process under the Central Goods and Services Tax ( CGST ) Act, 2017.
The Central Goods and Services Tax Act ( CGST Act ) and corresponding State GST Acts ( SGST Acts ) allow you to challenge decisions made by tax authorities, by way of an appeal.
If you disagree with an order issued by a tax officer, you can appeal to the Appellate Authority. This timeframe is outlined in Section 107 of the CGST Act as three months, starting from the date you receive the order. In special circumstances, the Appellate Authority may extend this deadline by an additional month.
The delay in constituting the Appellate Tribunal prevented timely filing of appeals under Section 112 of the CGST Act. Consequently, Removal of Difficulty Order No. 09/2019-Central Tax dated 03.12.2019 stipulated that the three-month ( for assessee appeals ) or six-month ( for departmental appeals ) time limit would start from the later of:
(i) The date of order communication, or
(ii) The date when the President or State President of the Appellate Tribunal assumed office post its constitution under Section 109.
This direction was further clarified in Circular No. 132/2/2020-GST dated 18th March 2020, where it was specified that the three-month deadline for filing appeals against Appellate or Revisional Authority decisions begins from the date of assumption of office by the President of the GSTAT or the State Bench President of the Appellate Tribunal, following its constitution under Section 109 of the CGST Act, 2017.
The Council has recommended amending Section 112 of the Act. Currently, taxpayers have three months to file an appeal before the Appellate Tribunal against certain orders passed by tax authorities. The proposed change would allow the government to notify a specific date in the future. The three-month appeal period would then commence from that date for any appeal or revision orders passed before the notification.
This amendment offers significant relief to taxpayers with pending appeals related to assessment orders or revisions. It provides them with additional time to prepare and file their appeals before the Appellate Tribunal.
The specific date for when the new three-month window will begin is yet to be announced by the government. However, the GST Council recommendation is a positive sign of hope.
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