The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs ( CBIC ) is considering allowing the e-filing of petitions from aggrieved taxpayers as the setting up of GST Appellate Tribunals (GSTAT) may take another 10 months despite a green signal by the GST Council.
The Board submitted before the Bombay High Court that it will not oppose or block any tax litigation if a taxpayer is willing to file an appeal in the high courts. The move brings relief to taxpayers who are awaiting the setting up of tribunals and are unable to file writ petitions in High courts.
We are considering the proposal to allow the e-filing of petitions once the draft changes are
included in the finance bill and approved, a CBIC official said.
Previously, the board had taken a different stance in the Bombay High Court, stating that a writ petition challenging the order issued by the commissioner (appeals) should not be entertained in the high court.
However, this stance has now changed, as the GST Appellate Tribunals may not be fully operational until the end of the year. An official explained that the tribunals are unlikely to be established until December or January, even if they are included in the upcoming finance bill. The reason for this is that states need to make changes to their legislation, and the appointment process may take some time.
In a recent case, the Bombay High Court had directed the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) to stick to 3 months Limitation post-constitution of GST Appellate Tribunals.
The Bombay High Court had directed the CBIC, Revenue and State that, “The period of filing the Appeal will stand extended as indicated in Clause 4.2 of the Circular dated 18 March 2020. The impugned order will not be given effect until two weeks after the period prescribed for filing an appeal as under Clause 4.2 of the Circular dated 18 March 2020 is over.”
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