Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal

May 5, 2024

The Centre has appointed a new President of the Goods & Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT).

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 2 Technical 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.