An appellate tribunal for the Goods and Services Tax could take shape in the second half of the ongoing financial year.

The number of pending appeals related to central GST has increased three-fold from 5,499 as of 2020-21 to 14,227 up to June 2023 according to data placed by Union minister of state for finance Pankaj Chaudhary in the Lok Sabha.

Unlike income tax where there is a quasi-judicial appellate tribunal in case the assessee does not agree with the department, in case of GST there was no such option. The taxpayer would have to approach the high courts in case of GST related disputes and disagreements with the department.

“We are expecting the GST Appellate Tribunal to become operational in the later part of the year after the general elections are over. Two benches are expected to be formed in Calcutta to look after taxpayer appeals in Bengal, Sikkim and Andaman & Nicobar Islands,” said Vivek Jalan, chairperson of national fiscal affairs and taxation committee of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and partner at Tax Connect Advisory Services LLP.

“The expected benefits are two-fold — it will result in faster disposal of cases and the balance sheet of the companies would be cleaner,” said Jalan on the sidelines of an event organised by Bengal Chamber on Thursday.

State GST sources confirmed the development and said that the appointment of members and creation of the infrastructure is on.

The GST Council in its 49th meeting had approved the setting up of GST appellate tribunals across the country. The state benches will be established in a phased manner. A notification was issued by the revenue department on September 14 for the creation of 31 benches across 36 states and Union territories.