Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal

About Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal

• It represents a specialised authority formed to resolve GST-related disputes at the appellate level.
• It is established under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (CGST Act) to hear various appeals under the said Act and the respective State/UT GST Acts.
• It will have one Principal Bench located at Delhi and 31 State benches located at various locations across States.
• Composition
  • It consists of the President (Head), a Judicial Member, and 2Technical Members (one from the state and another from the Centre).
  • Further, there may be state benches consisting of two Judicial Members, a Technical Member (Centre) and a Technical Member (state).
• Eligibility
  • The president must be a Supreme Court judge or have served the High Court as the Chief Justice.
  • The Judicial member must be a High Court Judge or has served as an Additional District Judge or a District Judge for a period of 10 years. 
  • The Technical Member (Centre) must be an Indian Revenue Service member belonging to Group A or must be a member of All India Service with three years of experience in administering GST in the Central Government.
  • Also, the Technical Member from the Centre should have completed twenty-five years in Group A services. 
  • The Technical Member (state) must be a state government officer or All India Service officer with the rank above Additional Commissioner of Value Added Tax; also, the rank should be above the First Appellate Authority.
  • The Technical Member from the state must have completed twenty-five years in Group A Services or equivalent and three years administering GST or finance and taxation in the State Government. 
  • Age limit and Tenure: The president and judicial and technical members of GSTAT shall hold office for four years, or until he attains the age of 70 years and 67 years.
• It is equivalent to a Civil Court for trying a case. It can pass orders, hear cases, impose penalties, and revoke or cancel registrations.

Q1: What is Goods and Services Tax (GST)?

 It is an indirect tax (not directly paid by customers to the government), that came into effect from 1 July 2017 through the implementation of the 101st Amendment to the Constitution of India by the Indian government.

Source: Sanjaya Kumar Mishra to head GST Appellate Tribunal