The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) recently explained the mechanism for appeals and review mechanism under the newly implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) laws.
Under the new law, the orders passed under CGST and SGST/UTGST laws can be challenged through appeal/review/revision/rectification, before the appropriate authorities as per the provisions of these Acts.
As per the provisions of the CGST, SGST/UTGST Acts, any person aggrieved by the order of the adjudicating authority can approach the appellate authority (AA) within 3 months.
As per the CGST Act, the appellant before AA is required to pre-deposit full amount of tax, interest, fine, fee and penalty, as is admitted by him, arising from the impugned order and a sum equal to 10% of the remaining amount of tax in dispute arising from the impugned order.
The Appellate Tribunals are empowered to entertain second appeals against the order of the AA within three months of receipt of the said order subject to payment of 20% of the remaining amount of tax in dispute, in addition to the amount deposited before the AA.
For this purpose, the law envisages constitution of a two tier Tribunal i.e. National Bench/Regional Benches and the State Bench/ Area Benches. Jurisdiction of the two constituents of the GST Tribunal is also defined. If place of supply is one of the issues in dispute, then the National Bench/ Regional benches of the Tribunal will have jurisdiction to hear the appeal. If the dispute relates to issues other than the place of supply, then the State/Area Benches will have the jurisdiction to hear the appeal. An appeal from the decision of the National Bench will lie directly to the Supreme Court and an appeal from the decision of the State Bench will lie to the jurisdictional High Court on substantial questions of law.
If the pre-deposit made by the appellant before the AA or Tribunal is required to be refunded consequent to any order of the AA or of the Tribunal, as the case may be, interest at the rate specified in Section 56 shall be payable from the date of payment of the amount (and not from the date of order of AA or of the Tribunal) till the date of refund of such amount.
The Act also provides for the mechanism of revision, by the Revisional Authority, of the orders passed by his subordinate officers on satisfaction of two conditions, firstly, the assessment order is erroneous, secondly, if the order is prejudicial to the interest of the revenue, and is illegal or improper or has not taken into account material facts.
In such cases, the Officer can exercise his revisional jurisdiction by following the principles of natural justice.
Assessees can be represented through their authorized representatives during appellate proceedings. The term “authorized representative” has been defined in the Act itself. Broadly, it includes a relative, a regular employee, an advocate, a chartered accountant, a cost accountant, a company secretary, or any person with prescribed qualifications. It is also provided that indirect tax gazetted officers can appear as authorized representative after one year from retirement.
Read the full text of the Concept Note below.
