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The GST Council on Saturday came out with an amnesty scheme, giving taxpayers time till January 31, 2024, to file appeals against demand orders passed by tax officers till March 2023.
As per the GST law, an assessee can file an appeal against an assessment order seeking taxes within three months of the tax officer passing such an order. This can be extended by one more month.
The 52nd GST Council in its meeting on Saturday gave extra time to GST-registered businesses to file appeals with an enhanced pre-deposit of 12.5 per cent of the tax demand, against 10 per cent currently.
Briefing reporters after the Council meeting, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said the council has recommended that a period till January 31, 2024, may be given for filing of appeals by taxpayers for all orders passed till March 31, 2023, with an enhanced pre-deposit.
Of the pre-deposit of 12.5 per cent of the tax under dispute, at least 20 per cent (i.e. 2.5 per cent of the tax under dispute) should be debited from the Electronic Cash Ledger.
"This will facilitate a large number of taxpayers, who could not file an appeal in the past within the specified time period," an official statement said.
In another trade facilitation measure, the GST Council has amended GST rules to provide that provisionally attached property will be released after completion of one year.
Under the GST law, tax officers can provisionally attach properties, including bank accounts, of GST-registered entities over non-payment of taxes.
The council has now clarified that such attachment will be valid for one year.
"This will facilitate the release of provisionally attached properties after the expiry of the period of one year, without need for a separate specific written order from the Commissioner," the statement said.
"There have been many instances wherein orders under the GST had been uploaded on the portal. However, the trade was not aware of the same.
"Hence, the time limit of 3 months had lapsed. This situation was creating a lot of issues for the assesses. This move will surely help the trade and ensure a reduction in writ petitions for the same," said Parag Mehta, Partner, Indirect Tax, NA Shah Associates.
