AGENCIES
New Delhi, Mar 31: GST field officers will now have to seek the approval of their zonal principal chief commissioners to initiate an investigation against any big industrial houses or major MNCs and levy duty on goods/services for the first time. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued guidelines for Central GST (CGST) officers.
According to the guidelines, when a taxpayer is simultaneously being investigated by the state GST and DGGI officers on different subject matters, the principal commissioner will “consider the feasibility” of only one of the offices pursuing all the cases with respect to the taxpayer. The guidelines have also set a deadline for tax officers to conclude an investigation within one year of their initiation.
CBIC further said that in initiating an investigation with respect to a listed company or PSU or seeking details from them, the CGST officers should issue “official letters instead of summons” to the designated officer of the entity, detailing the reasons for investigation and seeking submission of documents within a “reasonable time period”.
“In such a letter issued for seeking information/documents from the regular taxpayer, the reference can be to inquiry “with respect to” or “in connection with” that entity. Further, the letter/summons should disclose the specific nature of the inquiry being initiated/undertaken. The vague (or general) expressions such as that the officer is making inquiry in connection with “GST enquiry” or “evasion of GST” or “GST evasion” etc. must not be mentioned,” CBIC said. It further said tax officers should not seek that information from the taxpayer, which is already available online on the GST portal.
“Addressing letter/summons with context or content akin to a fishing inquiry is not acceptable,” CBIC noted.
The guidelines also said that each investigation must be initiated only after the approval of the principal commissioner, except in the specified four categories where the prior written approval of the zonal Principal Chief Commissioner shall be required if the investigation is to be initiated and action to be taken in a case.
These four cases include matters of interpretation seeking to levy tax/duty on any sector/commodity/service for the first time; big industrial houses and major multinational corporations; sensitive matters or matters with national implications; or matters which are already before the GST Council.
In all these four categories of cases, the concerned CGST field formation should also collect details regarding the prevalent trade practices and nature of transactions carried out by the stakeholders.
“The implications/impact of such matter should be studied so as to have adequate justification for initiating investigation and taking action,” the guidelines said.
