In an effort to have uniform interpretation of laws, the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the National Bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT). This body is similar to the Customs Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) set up during the pre-GST regime.

The tribunal has been set up as prescribed by the Central GST Act 2017. The Act envisages that the government shall, on the recommendations of the Council, by notification, constitute with effect from such date as may be specified therein, an Appellate Tribunal known as the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal for hearing appeals against the orders passed by the Appellate Authority or the Revisional Authority.

The National Bench will be presided over by the President and shall consist of one Technical Member (Centre) and one Technical Member (State). The creation of the National Bench of the GSTAT will amount to one-time expenditure of ₹92.50 lakh while the recurring expenditure will be ₹6.86 crore per annum, a statement issued by the Government said.

“It is important that the Tribunal is set up fast as litigation may ramp up since there are various interpretational issues surrounding GST,” Anita Rastogi, Partner (Indirect Tax) at PwC, said.

The statement further said the GSTAT is the forum of second appeal in GST laws and the first common forum of dispute resolution between the Centre and States. The appeals against the orders in first appeals issued by the Appellate Authorities under the Central and State GST Acts lie before the GST Appellate Tribunal, which is common under the Central as well as State GST Acts. Being a common forum, the GST Appellate Tribunal will ensure that there is uniformity in redressal of disputes arising under GST, and therefore, in implementation of GST across the country.

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