Last updated: December 17th, 2019 5:21 PM

GST - National Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling

The Finance (No.2) Act 2019 incorporated the following three new sections to the Central Goods and Service Tax Act relating to the National Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling:

1. Section 101A–Constitution of the National Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling;
2. Section 101B–Appeal to the National Appellate Authority; and
3. Section 101C–Order of the National Appellate Authority.

This present article briefly covers provisions of all the three newly inserted sections.

Constitution of the National Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling

Following table summarizes the constitution of the National Appellate Authority along with the eligible criteria thereof:

S. No.	Position	Eligibility criteria
1	The President	· Judge of Supreme Court; or · Chief Justice of the High Court; or · Judge of High Court for a period of not less than 5 years.
2	The Technical Member (Centre)	Member of Indian Revenue (Customs & Central Excise) Service [Group A] having completed service of at least 15 years in Group A.
3	The Technical Member (State)	· Officer of the State Government not lower than the rank of the Additional Commissioner of VAT (Value Added Tax) or the Additional Commissioner of State Tax. · The officer should have a minimum of 3-year experience in the administration of the existing law or the SGST Act or in the field of finance and taxation.

Appointment of the National Appellate Authority

As seen above, the constitution of the National Appellate Authority consists of the President, The Technical Member (Centre) and The Technical Member (State). Following table helps to understand the appointment of the said members:

S. No.	Position	Appointing authority
1	The President	The Government (after consultation with the chief justice of India or his nominee)
2	The Technical Member (Centre)	The Government (on the recommendation of the Selection Committee)
3	The Technical Member (State)	The Government (on the recommendation of the Selection Committee)

  Period of holding of the appointed members of the National Appellate Authority

S. No.	Position	Period of holding
1	The President	Earlier of the following: · Period of 3 years from the date on which he enters the office; or · Until he attains the age of 70 years.
2	The Technical Member (Centre)	Earlier of the following: · Period of 5 years from the date on which he enters the office; or · Until he attains the age of 65 years.
3	The Technical Member (State)	Earlier of the following: · Period of 5 years from the date on which he enters the office; or · Until he attains the age of 65 years.

Appeal to the National Appellate Authority

Any officer authorized by the Commissioner or an applicant (being a distinct person) aggrieved by the conflicting advance ruling given by the Appellate Authority of two or more States or Union Territories under section 101(1) or section 101(3) can prefer an appeal before the National Appellate Authority. The appeal is required to be filed within a period of 30 days from the date on which such conflicting advance ruling is communicated to the appellant. However, the officer (authorized by the Commissioner) can file an appeal within a period of 90 days from the date on which such advance ruling is communicated.

Order of the National Appellate Authority

• It is mandatory to provide opportunity of being heard to the applicant, the officer (authorized by the Commissioner), all the principal Chief Commissioner of Central tax, Chief Commissioner and Commissioner of State tax of all States, Chief Commissioner and Commissioner of Union Territory tax of all Union Territories before passing of the order.
• The matter shall be decided based on the majority, in case there is any difference between the members of the National Appellate Authority.
• The order shall be passed within the time period of 90 days from the date of filing of the appeal.

Miscellaneous Points

• Vacancy in the office of the President

If there is any vacancy in the office of the President, due to death, resignation or otherwise, the senior-most member of the National Appellate Authority shall act as the President till the new appointment.

• Resignation

The President or any member of the National Appellate Authority can resign by giving a notice in writing to the Government. However, the resigning President or the member is required to continue the office till the expiry of 3 months or till the new appointment whichever is earlier.