LS passes Central Sales Tax Bill

The Lok Sabha today passed the Central Sales Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2005, aimed at sorting out difficulties in the functioning of the Authority for Advance Rulings (constituted under the Income Tax Act, 1961) as the Central Sales Tax Appellate Authority (CSTAA).

The amendment provides that appeals before the CSTAA are only against the orders of the 'highest appellate authority' in a state and not against the orders of the Assessing Authority.

This will facilitate smooth functioning of the Authority, as cases will come up before it only after initial screening at the state-level. It will also help dealers as the appellate mechanism in the states will continue to remain available to them.

On the need for the latest amendment, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told the Lok Sabha that eventually CST will be phased out "" hopefully in two years' time.

"Pending that, we need an Authority to hear appeals against the highest appellate authority in a state," Chidambaram said.

As per the amendment passed today, the time limit for filing of an appeal before the CSTAA has been increased from 45 days to 90 days and the CSTAA empowered to condone a delay of up to sixty days against 15 days at present.

The state governments will now also be able to file appeals before the Authority, in case they feel aggrieved against the orders of the 'highest appellate authority' of the state.

Till now, only dealers were entitled to file appeals before the CSTAA.