Indore (Madhya Pradesh): CA Sunil P Jain, a GST expert, has said that traders and tax consultants are facing many problems in CGST departmental audit because there are still many discrepancies in the GST law and, in many cases, even between departments. Different meanings are being assumed, which makes it a challenge for the business world to satisfy the audit officers.
Jain was addressing a workshop organised by the organisation of tax consultants CTPA and MPTLBA, in which about 200 members took part. Consultants from Indore and the nearby cities were present.
Jain said that, recently, departmental audit of GST under Section 65 was going on by the CGST department and there was news that the SGST department would also start such audit proceedings soon. But it is also seen at many points that, as a result of this investigation, the trader gets an opportunity to rectify his mistake in time and such mistakes can be avoided in future, as well as before getting the notice of Section 73 or 74. There is also considerable relaxation in the penalty provision for correction of tax errors.
Jain said the department was taking direct action on the basis of the information received by the Directorate-General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) while the board had directed that the officer should take appropriate action keeping in mind the current situation and the way of doing business. The trader need not panic and should discharge his tax liabilities according to the facts. There is also anger among the traders that, despite the departmental audit being done under Section 65, sometimes, CGST and, sometimes, SGST or the DGGI again gives notice of investigation on various issues. Jain believes that, in case of such reaction, the traders should be informed through a letter by the officer giving notice and the action should be dropped under Section 6(3).
Ashwin Lakhotia, president of the MPTLBA, said there was also anger in the business world that the audit action was being delayed by the department and the burden of interest at 18% rate to the business in error correction breaks the back of the entire business class. Interest is being charged for the entire five years, while the audit should be started by selecting the audit cases immediately after the annual returns of GSTR-9. If the year has been audited once, in that year, no other action should be taken by the department. Action should be taken only when absolutely necessary, he felt.
