A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala has been constituted to suggest necessary changes in the law for setting up of GSTAT.
A Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala has been constituted to suggest necessary changes in the law for setting up of GSTAT.
The GST Council has constituted a Group of Ministers, headed by Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala, to suggest necessary changes in the law for setting up the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT).
GST CouncilIt was decided last week to constitute a Group of Ministers (GoM) under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and chaired by state ministers to address various concerns raised by the states regarding the formation of GSTAT.
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As per the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the GoM, the panel will recommend necessary amendments to the GST law to ensure that the legal provisions maintain the right federal balance and are in line with the overall objective of equitable taxation within the country.
The 6-member GoM will also ensure that the amendments are in line with various court decisions relating to the establishment of the tribunal.
The GoM will consult legal experts to formulate its recommendations and submit the report to the council by July 31.
Besides Mr. Chautala, other members of the GoM are Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Bugna Rajendranath, Goa Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho, Rajasthan’s Law and Legal Affairs Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal, Uttar Pradesh’s FM Suresh Khanna and Odisha’s FM Niranjan Pujari.
The GoM is likely to address the concerns of the states in the light of the Madras High Court order which held that the number of technical members should not exceed the number of judicial members in the GSTAT.
The CGST Act originally envisaged that the GSTAT would have a Judicial Member and two Technical Members (one each from the Center and the States).
The panel will also make recommendations for appropriate amendments to the Central GST Act. The GSTAT will hear appeals against orders passed by the GST Appellate Authority, which includes the tax authorities.
Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj had said earlier this week that the GoM on GSTAT would give its recommendations within a month.
“We should see a lot of progress on the tribunal front in the next 6 months,” Mr. Bajaj had said.