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As of now, unless the prescribed time limit which stands as 30/06/2026 for filing appeal before GSTAT for all orders passed by first appellate authority till 31.03/2026 is extended by a minimum period of six months, the basic purpose of setting up of GSTAT and making operational of the principal bench and more than 30 state benches may be defeated. This requirement for the required extension in time limit for filing appeals before GSTAT by a minimum period of six months is very urgent and it involves the intervention of GST Council.
The issue involved in this request is so serious as even while I am writing this article, the site of GSTAT is not working. 10/05/2026 15.15 Hours IST
GST Appellate Tribunal
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With hardly around 50 days as on date to file lakhs of pending appeals, it would certainly be impossible to file the required number of appeals before the GSTAT in time unless the issues are resolved in war footing.
The 56th GST Council meeting took place on 03/09/2025 and already we crossed 8 full months without even a single GST Council meeting whereas there are burning issues to be resolved in real estate sector as well as in making the operationalization of GSTAT fully. This would be possible only if the next GST Council meeting is convened as quickly as possible and in no case not later than31/05/2026 as any extension, if announced at the last minute is not a good solution as the trade and industry as well as tax professionals would be severely affected during this time.
The fact that hardly less than 8500 appeals could be filed during the last 8 months gives us the message that it is not an easy task to file an appeal electronically in the portal as there are several technical glitches, huge time being consumed to file even one appeal etc, which is really cumbersome. It was gathered that the first appeal before GSTAT could be filed only during the third month after the site became functional during September 2025.
The form APL 05 is not a simple form which can be filled in one or two hours as there are around 25 inputs which have to be furnished most accurately and the annexure B on category of dispute or issue involved has 38 options and out of these all the applicable options are required to be identified in the most accurate manner so as to ensure that the appeal has to be correct in all respects. Even minor and inadvertent errors may result in deficiency memo which increases the workload of the Tribunal as well as the tax professional.
The Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry has already written a detailed letter addressed to the Honorable Finance Minister on 20/03/2026 itself explaining the issues faced by the taxpayers in a detailed manner. As each and every hour is precious now to ensure that GSTAT is in a position to dispose matters in a judicious manner in respect of all the pending matters which are yet to appealed before GSTAT as on date in all deserving cases, the issue may be examined on top priority by the GST Council immediately to extend the deadline as required.
As the 56th Council meeting has ensured the setting up of the GSTAT as well as giving adequate time limit to file the required appeals. However, due to technical glitches as well as transformation from manual to digital mode, the appeals could not be filed as expected and as of now the things are extremely in a bad shape. Unless the technical glitches are removed and the portal becomes user friendly, it would be a herculean task even to file one appeal in the GSTAT portal. Accordingly, it is prayed that the 57th GST Council meeting may be convened during May 2026 itself to resolve the burning issues as above.