CII session: GSTAT extends relief on backlog appeals till July 31
Pioneer News Service
Jamshedpur
Businesses with pending GST disputes have received additional relief as the government has extended the deadline for filing backlog appeals before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) till July 31, 2026, while easing documentation scrutiny until December 31, 2026 to facilitate a smooth transition to the newly operational tribunal.
The announcement was made by Bijoy Bihari Mahapatra, Technical Member of the GSTAT Ranchi Bench, during a seminar on “GSTAT in Practice: Appeals, Procedures & Digital Filing” organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Jharkhand in Jamshedpur on Wednesday.
Mahapatra said the tribunal would initially require only essential documents, including show-cause notices, adjudication orders and appellate orders. He also highlighted the introduction of a token generation mechanism to safeguard taxpayers against portal downtime during online filing.
CII Jharkhand State Council Chairman Diloo Parikh described GSTAT as a significant step towards a transparent, specialised and time-bound GST dispute resolution system. He urged businesses to strengthen technology-driven compliance and digital tax administration.
Vikash Mittal, Convenor of the CII Jharkhand Finance & Taxation Panel and Chief Legal Counsel (Indirect Taxation) at Tata Steel, termed GSTAT India’s first digital-first tribunal, stressing the need for strong documentation, digital readiness and procedural discipline.
Chief Guest Tushar Kanti Satapathy, Vice President of the GSTAT Ranchi Bench, said the tribunal completes India’s indirect tax dispute resolution framework. He noted that the Ranchi Bench is the first in the country to conduct hearings after the Principal Bench in New Delhi and urged taxpayers to make use of the extended filing window.
Technical sessions by experts from Khaitan & Co focused on online filing procedures, documentation standards and strategies for strengthening GST appeals.
