New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) The government has extended the deadline for filing appeals before the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) to July 31 after representations from stakeholders over technical difficulties caused by a surge in filings on the GSTAT portal, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday.

The extension applies to appeals filed under Section 112(1) read with Section 112(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, it added.

According to the Finance Ministry, the decision to extend the deadline was taken after various stakeholders flagged technical issues on the GSTAT portal due to the heavy rush of appeal filings in recent days.

Earlier — through a notification issued on September 17, 2025 — the government had fixed June 30 as the last date for filing appeals before the GST Appellate Tribunal.

The ministry said nearly 30,000 appeals were filed during the last 15 days alone, with daily filing volumes peaking at around 5,500 appeals.

Moreover, taxpayers have been advised to plan their appeal filings well in advance and avoid waiting until the last date to prevent last-minute congestion on the portal.

The extension decision comes amid robust growth in the government’s tax collections during the current financial year.

Meanwhile, gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose 3.2 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1.94 lakh crore in May despite geopolitical tensions in West Asia. Net GST collections increased 3.3 per cent to Rs 1.67 lakh crore, while GST refunds during the month rose 2.6 per cent to Rs 27,281 crore.

According to the Income Tax Department, net direct tax collections rose 14.64 per cent year-on-year to Rs 5.21 lakh crore during the April 1-June 17 period of FY27, compared with Rs 4.55 lakh crore collected in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

While gross direct tax collections also increased 12.46 per cent to Rs 6.10 lakh crore.

–IANS

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