GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (GST)

26.11.2019

Purchase without bill may be big GST leakage source - Officials Fear Emergence Of Parallel System For Evasion.

New Delhi: Tax authorities have identified B2C sales as a key source of leakage of goods and services tax (GST) as consumers are often cajoled into paying in cash without taking a bill and are looking to incentivise digital payments to plug revenue leakages.

On Monday, the issue was discussed in detail at the first national GST conference, which was attended by senior officers from across the country, with officials suggesting that a check on this channel of leakage could bolster revenue by 15-20%. “In certain products, the revenue leakage is massive,” an officer told TOI.

Under GST, the chain of transactions can help detect leakages but officials fear that a parallel system may have developed through which the entire chain from raw material to inputs and finished goods may be evading taxes. Over the last few months, the government has read more »

22.11.2019

GST filings rise 8.2% to 64.8L in Nov.

New Delhi: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) on Thursday said the filing of GSTR-3B returns shot up by 50% on Wednesday, the deadline for filing returns, with close to 18.3 lakh returns being filed through the online network, as against 12.2 lakh in October. During November, returns filed so far have increased by 8.2% to 64.8 lakh, as against 59.9 lakh in the previous month.

CBIC is drawing comfort from the numbers, saying “there is a fair improvement in compliance” and added that the GSTN return filing system was working smoothly. “To stay away from any load threshold related intricacy in filing, they should preferably file their return earlier than the last days,” the government agency said.

22.11.2019

‘Student’ held for smuggling in ?2.7cr watch granted bail.

Mumbai: A month after a 24-year-old Vile Parle “student” was arrested by air intelligence unit (AIU) for allegedly smuggling in a watch worth Rs 2.7 crore, a sessions court recently granted him bail and said that prima facie a receipt disclosed that its value was below Rs 10 lakh.

“AIU has not filed documentary evidence about the value of the wrist watch being Rs 2.7 crore. As per provisions, (in instances of) goods valued below Rs 1 crore imported by evading tax, the offence under Customs Act is bailable,” the court said.

Kavinkumar Mehta was arrested at the international airport after he arrived from Bangkok on October 16.

Seeking bail, Mehta’s lawyer Sujay Kantawala said he had brought the watch for a friend and did not benefit in any way. The defence said he had neither smuggled the read more »

21.11.2019

5 STATE FMs SEEK PAYMENT - ‘Finances under stress due to GST compensation delay’.

New Delhi: Five state finance ministers on Friday released a joint statement expressing concern over the delay in the release of GST compensation by the Centre, which has put finances of states under stress and some have been prompted to resort to short term borrowing from the RBI or overdraft.

“GST compensation for the months of August and September, required to be paid by the central government sometime in October, continues to be outstanding till date,” said the finance ministers of West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab, Delhi and Rajasthan. “No explanation whatsoever has been furnished for this delay of nearly one month. As a result, states are facing acute pressure on financials, some resorting to ways and means or even overdrafts,” they said in a joint statement after a meeting of the empowered committee of state FMs.

They urged FM Nirmala Sitharaman read more »

20.11.2019

Mitra urges FM to plug GST frauds.

New Delhi: West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra has written to FM Nirmala Sitharaman, urging her to convene an urgent meeting to discuss revenue augmentation measures as well as devise a strategy to plug rampant leakages.

“I have also been repeatedly writing about GST fraud and the flaws in the system that need to be plugged. But in spite of my requests, no discussion was held on this issue in the last GST Council meeting,” Mitra said in his letter. He also said that no date has been fixed for a GST Council meeting. Mitra said the junior Union finance minister in his reply in Rajya Sabha had said that an amount worth Rs 44,466 crore of fraud has been detected in the last two years.

“The time has come for us to re-evalute GST and how it is working. I read more »

17.11.2019

Centre to seek public feedback to address concerns over GST.

New Delhi: GST commissioners across the country will seek feedback from taxpayers and practitioners next month as the government moved to address all concerns related to filing of returns, while asserting the overall IT system is robust.

All circles have been instructed to obtain inputs on the new tax return forms on December 7, even as the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the GST Network sit down to address some of the issues that were flagged by chartered accountants and representatives of small businesses and retailers on Saturday. The new returns have to be used from April.

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had invited representatives from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, Confederation of All India Traders, Laghu Udyog Bharti, Rajasthan Tax Consultants Association and an independent chartered accountant from Kolkata to file returns on a real-time read more »

08.11.2019

FROM TODAY - E-generated doc required for indirect tax notices.

New Delhi: The government has ordered GST and customs officials to issue search authorisation, summons, arrest memo, inspection notices and letters issued in the course of any enquiry only with a computer generated document identification number.

The new order applicable from Friday, comes after a similar exercise was initiated for income tax department and is being rolled out to minimise the interface between the tax-payers and the department, ensure transparency and shut out discretion on the part of tax officers. The Documentation Identification Number (DIN) system of Central Board of Indirect Taxes (CBIC) will come into operation from Friday.

“This step is to further the government’s objectives of bringing transparency and accountability in the indirect tax administration also through widespread use of information technology,” an official statement said. “From now onwards, any communication from GST or Custom or Central Excise department read more »

02.11.2019

GST collections slip 5% to Rs. 95,380 crore in Oct.

New Delhi: GST collections fell over 5% to Rs 95,380 crore in October due to muted domestic demand and shrinking imports. Although the initial sales spurt due to Navaratra did help the mop-up improve from Rs 91,916 crore collected in September, it remained below the Rs 1-lakh-crore comfort level, piling pressure on tax authorities to plug leakages at a time when the Centre’s fiscal pressure is increasing due to poor collections of direct taxes as well.

“The trend of lower than expected GST collections continuing in a festive month is possibly reflective of the slowdown in the economy. Since GST is a consumption tax, lower collections during the past few months are possibly indicative of the decline in consumer spending,” said M S Mani, partner, Deloitte India.

By all accounts, collections in November are expected to be better as the full read more »

18.10.2019

Man flies into Mum with Rs.2.7cr watch, lands in jail.

Mumbai: The air intelligence unit (AIU) of customs has arrested a Vile Parle resident for smuggling in a watch costing crores.

The AIU on Wednesday intercepted Kavinkumar Mehta (24) after he landed in Mumbai from Bangkok. On suspicion, detectives searched his baggage and found the timepiece, Astronomia Solar Zodiac, which is from a limited edition line by American luxury brand Jacob & Co.

After a preliminary estimate of its value at Rs 1.8 crore, Mehta was arrested for smuggling, produced before a local court and remanded in judicial custody. Officials said items like the seized watch attract a 38% customs duty, and Mehta tried to evade this tax by concealing the watch, which amounts to smuggling.

“It is obvious that this expensive watch has been brought for somebody. We sent it to dealers Rose The Watch Bar later read more »

17.10.2019

Horse owner must pay 18% GST on racing prize.

Mumbai: Vijay Baburao Shirke, owner of several winning racehorses, is often spotted at derby matches and in the sports sections of newspapers. This time, he is in the limelight due to an advance goods and services tax (GST) ruling sought by him.

Advance ruling authorities recently agreed with his view that horse owners must pay 18% GST against the prize money earned by them.

Shirke’s horses have emerged winners in races held by several clubs, including the Royal Western India Turf Club (Pune, Mumbai), Mysore Race Club and Bangalore Race Club, to name a few. As owner of the winning horses, he is awarded prize money by race organisers.

In 2012, when service tax was introduced, Royal Western Turf Club had informed horse owners that their prize money would be subject to it. When GST was introduced on read more »