Sales Tax Bar Association Seeks Three-Month Extension in Deadline to File Appeals Before GSTAT Amid Portal Glitches:

Sales Tax Bar Association Seeks Three-Month Extension in Deadline to File Appeals Before GSTAT Amid Portal Glitches The Sales Tax Bar Association (STBA), one of India's oldest and largest associations of tax professionals, has written a representation to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking an extension in the time limit to file appeals before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) beyond June 30, 2026, due to ongoing technical and practical issues with the GSTAT e-filing portal. As per the representation, associations, taxpayers, businesses, and professionals are facing difficulties while their appeal is before the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT), as the portal is showing slow responses, login failures, session timeouts, Aadhaar authentication errors, Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) validation issues, and payment gateway glitches.

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The portal presently has several areas that require manual entry of information that is already available on the GST common portal. This is making compliance more difficult, time-consuming, and hectic for taxpayers, also increasing the chances of errors in the filing process. The association further highlighted that appeals involve several years of records, including notices, orders, invoices, and financial documents, which take significant time to compile and upload. Additionally, the portal reportedly does not adequately support appeals by certain persons, such as directors and partners who are not registered under GST.

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The STBA flagged that the GSTAT is a newly operational tribunal; hence, both taxpayers and professionals are not completely familiar with it; they are still adapting to its online filing system. It warned that if the deadline is not extended, many genuine taxpayers could lose their right to appeal due to reasons beyond their control, leading to unnecessary litigation before high courts. At the end of the representation, the STBA has requested the Finance Ministry, Government of India, to grant a three-month extension in the deadline of filing appeals before the GSTAT (till September 30, 2026); protect taxpayers affected by portal issues; and continue improving the GSTAT e-filing system to ensure smooth and efficient access to justice.