Sitharaman urged GST officials to engage with stakeholders to understand their concerns, enhance compliance, stramline processes, and work collaboratively.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday stressed the urgent need to bring clarity on classification-related issues under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, urging tax officials to look into the issue “at the earliest through appropriate channels”.

Addressing the first-ever ‘National Conference of Enforcement Chiefs of State and the Central GST Formations’ that will be held twice a year going forward, Ms. Sitharaman urged GST officials to engage with stakeholders to understand their concerns, enhance compliance, streamline processes, and work collaboratively towards making the tax system more transparent and efficient.

Stressing on the use of technology to plug loopholes and improve taxpayer services, the Minister called for seamless coordination of officials across States “in the larger national interest”. Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary expressed optimism about achieving a monthly GST revenue target of ₹2 lakh crore soon.

Terming enforcement as crucial for GST’s success, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra said key priorities for officials should include efforts to target high-risk areas, combat tax evaders, balance enforcement with taxpayer rights, and gather feedback for improving policy and technology interventions.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal batted for more action against fake entities and GST evasion as they “not only erode our national revenue but also distort fair competition and fuel an underground economy”.

“The nationwide crackdown on fake registrations and bogus billing from May 2023 alone has resulted in detection of ITC [input tax credit] tax evasion of ₹49,623 crore involving 31,512 bogus firms. CBIC… has detected fake ITC evasion of ₹1,14,755 crore from the year 2020 till date,” the board said.

Source: The Hindu