GST officers will not be able to investigate big companies without permission, new instructions issued

highlights

Tax officials will not ask for the information which is available on the portal.

Approval is required to initiate investigation and take action in four categories.

Before investigating any big business, approval will have to be taken.

New Delhi, GST regional officers will now have to take the approval of their regional Principal Chief Commissioners before initiating investigation against any big industrial house or major multinational company. They will also have to take the approval of regional Principal Chief Commissioners for imposing 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.

As per these guidelines, when a taxpayer is being investigated by State GST and DGGI officers, the Principal Commissioner will consider the possibility of all cases in respect of the taxpayer being processed by one office. The guidelines also set a time limit for the tax authorities to complete the investigation within one year of the initiation of the investigation. CBIC further said that to initiate investigation or seek details from any listed company or PSU, CGST authorities should issue an official letter instead of sending summons to the designated officer of the entity.

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What not to do?
The board said that this letter should detail the reasons for the investigation and demand the submission of documents within a reasonable time period. It further states that tax authorities should not ask the taxpayer for information which is already available online on the GST portal. The guidelines also state that every investigation should be initiated only after the approval of the Principal Commissioner.

written approval
To initiate investigation and take action in four categories, prior written approval of the Regional Principal Chief Commissioner will be required. These four categories include cases of interpretation seeking to impose tax/duty on any sector/good/service for the first time. Apart from this, cases related to large industrial houses and major multinational corporations, sensitive cases or cases of national importance and such cases which are already before the GST Council are included in it.

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