NEW DELHI: Finance ministry on Thursday introduced an amnesty scheme for filing appeals against GST demand orders.
The scheme will be open until January 31, 2024, and applies to entities that were unable to submit appeals against tax officer orders before March 31, 2023, according to the notification of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC).
Previously, the GST law allowed a three-month window, extendable by one month, to file appeals against assessment orders. The scheme requires a pre-deposit of 12.5% of the tax demand, compared to the current 10%. This will benefit taxpayers who missed the previous appeal deadline.
Responding to the development, Ankur Gupta, Practice Leader - Indirect Tax at SW India, said, “...Even the high courts (in absence of Tribunal) had taken varying positions whether appeals can be accepted beyond statutory timelines. This amnesty scheme provides relief to all such taxpayers, provided the adjudication order was passed before 31-03-2023.”