A group of States Ministers (GoM) in the convenorship of Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana, Dushyant Chautala will suggest changes required in law for setting up GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT). The GST Council has notified the setting up of the GoM.

The GoM will consult legal experts for formulating its recommendations and will submit the report to the Council by July 31. The 6-member group include Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath, Goa Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho, Rajasthan Law and Legal Affairs Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal, Uttar Pradesh FM Suresh Khanna and Odisha FM Niranjan Pujari.

As per the GoM’s Terms of Reference , the panel would recommend necessary amendments required in the GST law to ensure the legal provisions maintain the right federal balance and are in line with the overall objective of uniform taxation across the country. The GoM would also ensure that the amendments are in line with various court judgements relating to setting up the Tribunal.

The GST Council, chaired by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state ministers, had last week decided to constitute a Group of Ministers (GoM) to address various concerns raised by the states regarding constitution of the GSTAT.

The GoM is likely to address the concerns of states in light of the Madras High Court order which said that the number of technical members should not exceed the judicial members in GSTAT. The CGST Act had originally envisaged that GSTAT would have one judicial member and two technical members (one each from Centre and states).

The panel would also make recommendations for appropriate amendments in Central GST Act. The GSTAT would hear appeals against the orders passed by the GST Appellate Authority, which consist of tax officers.

Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj had earlier this week said that the GoM on GSTAT would give its recommendations within a month. “In the next 6 months, we should see a lot of progress on the tribunal front,” Bajaj had said

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