GST officers told to widen tax base, boost cash collections

New Delhi: With the GST rates and processes almost stabilising after nine years of the GST rollout, the Centre and states' tax officers have been told to work towards deepening the taxpayer base, increasing cash tax collections, and using intelligence and deeper data analytics to nab evaders, sources said. They said e-invoicing for B2C transactions would come into effect from April 1, 2027, with GST Network providing the support system to states to move towards it. GST officers will act as a facilitator for businesses and tell them the audit benefits of the tax department having granular data.

Sources further said that some of the process reforms, including the Rs 10,000 threshold for sending notices, approved by the 57th GST Council meeting, require only changes in rules and could be rolled out sooner.

With the economic benefits of last year's GST rate rationalisation showing results, GST officers will now follow a more "facilitative approach" rather than "mandatory compliance" to show trust in taxpayers.

"We have asked GST officers to increase cash tax collections and use deeper data analytics instead of being too intrusive. Although we have a good number of taxpayers registered under GST, there is scope to widen the base. We have asked states to widen the base," a source said.

Currently, there are about 1.68 crore taxpayers registered under GST.

Centre and state tax officers divide the taxpayers on the basis of a formula. As much as 90 per cent of the taxpayers having turnover below Rs 1.5 crore are handled by state GST administration. The remaining 10 per cent are with the central tax administration.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Hans India