2nd National GST Conference to streamline GST system held in New Delhi

On January 07, 2020 the 2nd edition of the National GST Conference of the Commissioners of State Tax and Chief Commissioners of Central Tax was held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Revenue Secretary of the Ministry of Finance(MoF). The conference was held to streamline the GST (Goods and Service Tax) system and also to plug revenue leakages.2nd National GST Conference:

i.Presentations made: The conference saw various presentations on fake/ fraudulent Input Tax Credit by Directorate of Revenue Intelligence(DRI) and others etc. the use of data analytics, artificial intelligence(AI) etc were discussed. The best practices adopted by each zonal office were presented

ii.Measures taken in 2nd National GST Conference: After the conference, following measures were decided for necessary action.

• Committee constitution:  A committee of the centre and state officers for examining and implementing quick measures to curb fraudulent refund claims was decided to be constituted. The committee will be implemented by the end of January 2020.
• Investigation: Major cases with fake Input Tax Credit(ITC), fraudulent refund cases will soon be compulsorily investigated.
• Linking foreign exchange remittances: Considering the increased amount of fraudulent IGST (Integrated GST) refund claims, the foreign exchange remittances will be linked with IGST refunds.
• CBDT, CBIC and GSTN Mou Signing:  A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) would be signed among Central Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and GST-Network (GSTN) to exchange data through Application Program Interface (API) among them.
• Data sharing: This data will be shared on a quarterly basis instead of yearly basis.
• Bank transaction exploration: Access to explore bank transactions including bank details by GST in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) and NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) will be made. Suggestions were also made to align GST system with the Financial Intelligence Units (FIU) to get bank account details.
• Fraud refund detected by CBIC & CBDT:  Data will be shared for cases involving fraudulent refund detected by CBIC with CBDT and vice versa.
• Single bank account: Formation of a single bank account for foreign remittance receipt and refund disbursement was suggested.
• Business closure: In case of closure of businesses, a self-assessment declaration should be prescribed by suitable amendments in GSTR (GST- Return) forms.
• Unmatched ITC availed by taxpayers should be verified.

iii.Members present: All the chief commissioners of the Central Tax Zones, State Commissioners of State Taxes, Directors General(DG) of CBIC, members of CBIC, Chairman of CBDT and other officials were present in the conference.

About GST:
Fact- Goods and Services Tax (GST) is an indirect tax (or consumption tax) used in India on the supply of goods and services.
Launch- 1 July 2017.