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Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Make GST registration easier using technology, risk-based parameters: Nirmala Sitharaman
NEW DELHI: Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday told taxmen to make the Goods and Services Tax registration process easier, seamless, and more transparent with the use of technology and risk-based parameters. Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked CBIC to make the GST registration easier, seamless, and more transparent for taxpayers (PIB) Addressing a conclave of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Sitharaman told officials to prepare an action plan to improve various parameters such as GST registration, processing of refunds, and handling taxpayers' grievances. The conclave was attended by principal chief commissioners, chief commissioners and director generals and field formations of the CBIC in New Delhi. During the conclave, CBIC highlighted the performance of customs and CGST zones on key indicators such as grievance redressal, refunds, audit and enforcement. The average time for grievance disposal has been reduced to just nine days, significantly better than the stipulated 21-day timeline, the finance ministry said in a statement. On refunds, 85% of claims were processed within the statutory 60-day limit, it said. GST audit coverage went up from 62.21% in 2022–23 to 88.74% in 2024–25. Detection of GST evasion had improved to ₹ 2,23,170 crore in 2024–25, with voluntary payments totalling ₹ 28,909 crore. The number of taxpayers repeated for audit more than once in three years is zero, it said. In the area of enhanced trade facilitation, facilitation of cargo through the risk management system (RMS) has steadily increased, with 86% of cargo being facilitated in 2025, up from 82% in 2022. Similarly, in 2024-25, 2140.35 kgs of seized gold were disposed of by handing it over to SPMCIL, it said. The finance minister also directed the Central GST (CGST) formations to launch targeted awareness campaigns among taxpayers, trade associations, and industry bodies regarding the mandatory documentation required for GST registration, particularly those related to the principal place of business, it said. This would help reduce rejections and delays in registration and enable faster processing of applications, she said. The minister also directed CGST zonal heads to have a dedicated helpdesk for GST registrations to facilitate the taxpayers in the application process. Sitharaman highlighted the need to ensure that GST 'seva kendras' and customs 'turant suvidha kendras' are well-staffed, accessible, and properly maintained, so that taxpayers receive timely and quality assistance. Emphasising taxpayer trust, she called for a targeted and sustained focus on grievance redressal, ensuring the timely resolution of queries and complaints through improved systems and accountability. Sitharaman also called for the speedy closure of investigations for Customs and CGST cases, and stressed the need to seek solutions to reduce the gap between detection and recovery. At the same time, the minister emphasised the need for preventing tax evasion and wrongful Input Tax Credits (ITC) claims. NTRS 2025 Sitharaman also released the fifth edition of the National Time Release Study -- NTRS 2025. According to the report, India has seen significant improvement in the average cargo release time in all four categories -- seaports, inland container depots (ICDs), integrated check posts (ICPs) and air cargo complexes (ACCs). The time release study (TRS) is a performance measurement tool that provides a quantitative assessment of the time taken for cargo release, helping to evaluate the efficiency of the clearance process. Since 2019, TRS has been conducted at 15 major locations, including seaports, ACCs, ICDs, and ICPs. In the import segment, average release time (ART) has declined between 2023 and 2025 across seaports by about six hours, ACCs by about five hours, and ICPs by approximately 18 hours. There has been an increase of about 12 hours in the case of ICDs, a finance ministry statement said, citing the report. A key strength of India's TRS lies in its use of accurate and reliable data sourced directly from the customs automated system, operated by the Directorate General of Systems and Data Management in the CBIC, the statement said. Over the years, the scope of TRS has significantly expanded. What began as a report measuring release time across select gateway ports now includes other areas of considerable importance, such as transit cargo, courier shipments, and commodity-specific assessments, it added. The fifth edition also adopted advanced methodologies to enable stage-wise and process-specific evaluations. This edition marked another milestone by widening its geographical coverage to three additional ports -- Kochi seaport, Garhi Harsaru ICD and Jaigaon land customs station (LCS).
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Make GST registration easier using technology, risk-based parameters: FM Sitharaman to CBIC
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked CBIC to make the GST registration easier, seamless, and more transparent for taxpayers, using technology and risk-based parameters. Sitharaman, who chaired the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Conclave with the Principal Chief Commissioners, Chief Commissioners and Director Generals of the field formations, reviewed the performance of Customs and CGST zones on key indicators. During the conclave, she directed the zones to prepare an action plan to improve various parameters, such as GST registration, processing of refunds, and handling taxpayers' grievances. The finance minister also directed the CGST formations to launch targeted awareness campaigns among taxpayers, trade associations, and industry bodies regarding the mandatory documentation required for GST registration, particularly those related to the principal place of business, the finance ministry said in a statement. This would help reduce rejections and delays in registration and enable faster processing of applications, she said. Live Events She also directed CGST Zonal Heads to have a dedicated helpdesk for GST registrations to facilitate the taxpayers in the application process. The finance minister also highlighted the need to ensure that GST Seva Kendras and Customs Turant Suvidha Kendras are well-staffed, accessible, and properly maintained so that taxpayers receive timely and quality assistance. Emphasising taxpayer trust, she called for a targeted and sustained focus on grievance redressal, ensuring the timely resolution of queries and complaints through improved systems and accountability. Sitharaman also underlined the need for the speedy closure of investigations for Customs and CGST cases, and exhorted for an analysis on detection and recovery and to seek solutions to reduce the gap between detection and recovery. At the same time, she emphasised the need to prevent tax evasion and wrongful input tax credit (ITC) claims. The CBIC was asked to expedite the processing of GST and Customs refunds to ensure timely redressal and ease of doing business, especially for MSMEs and exporters. Hailing that CBIC ranks in the top five out of 90 Central Ministries/Departments in CPGRAMS performance since February 2024, she underscored the importance of promptly addressing public grievances received through CPGRAMS. The finance minister suggested that the CGST and Customs zones may dedicate teams to further expedite the resolution of grievances. She asked the Customs to reduce dwell time at seaports, airports, and Inland Container Depots (ICDs) for both imports and exports and emphasised that faster cargo clearance is crucial to enhance India's global trade competitiveness and ease of doing business. Taking note of pending disciplinary matters, the minister directed that disciplinary proceedings against the officials at different levels be concluded expeditiously in a time-bound manner. The CBIC was also urged to fill all vacant posts at the earliest across various levels to strengthen field formations and enhance administrative efficiency. Sitharaman encouraged Chief Commissioners and DGs to actively undertake trade facilitation measures within their jurisdictions and submit actionable suggestions to CBIC Headquarters for further streamlining of procedures. The meeting was also attended by Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava and CBIC Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, and senior officials of the Department of Revenue.
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Make GST registration easier using tech, risk-based parameters: FM to CBIC
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked CBIC to make the GST registration easier, seamless, and more transparent for taxpayers, using technology and risk-based parameters. Sitharaman, who chaired the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) Conclave with the Principal Chief Commissioners, Chief Commissioners and Director Generals of the field formations, reviewed the performance of Customs and CGST zones on key indicators. During the conclave, she directed the zones to prepare an action plan to improve various parameters, such as GST registration, processing of refunds, and handling taxpayers' grievances. The finance minister also directed the CGST formations to launch targeted awareness campaigns among taxpayers, trade associations, and industry bodies regarding the mandatory documentation required for GST registration, particularly those related to the principal place of business, the finance ministry said in a statement. This would help reduce rejections and delays in registration and enable faster processing of applications, she said. She also directed CGST Zonal Heads to have a dedicated helpdesk for GST registrations to facilitate the taxpayers in the application process. The finance minister also highlighted the need to ensure that GST Seva Kendras and Customs Turant Suvidha Kendras are well-staffed, accessible, and properly maintained so that taxpayers receive timely and quality assistance. Emphasising taxpayer trust, she called for a targeted and sustained focus on grievance redressal, ensuring the timely resolution of queries and complaints through improved systems and accountability. Sitharaman also underlined the need for the speedy closure of investigations for Customs and CGST cases, and exhorted for an analysis on detection and recovery and to seek solutions to reduce the gap between detection and recovery. At the same time, she emphasised the need to prevent tax evasion and wrongful input tax credit (ITC) claims. The CBIC was asked to expedite the processing of GST and Customs refunds to ensure timely redressal and ease of doing business, especially for MSMEs and exporters. Hailing that CBIC ranks in the top five out of 90 Central Ministries/Departments in CPGRAMS performance since February 2024, she underscored the importance of promptly addressing public grievances received through CPGRAMS. The finance minister suggested that the CGST and Customs zones may dedicate teams to further expedite the resolution of grievances. She asked the Customs to reduce dwell time at seaports, airports, and Inland Container Depots (ICDs) for both imports and exports and emphasised that faster cargo clearance is crucial to enhance India's global trade competitiveness and ease of doing business. Taking note of pending disciplinary matters, the minister directed that disciplinary proceedings against the officials at different levels be concluded expeditiously in a time-bound manner. The CBIC was also urged to fill all vacant posts at the earliest across various levels to strengthen field formations and enhance administrative efficiency. Sitharaman encouraged Chief Commissioners and DGs to actively undertake trade facilitation measures within their jurisdictions and submit actionable suggestions to CBIC Headquarters for further streamlining of procedures. The meeting was also attended by Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava and CBIC Chairman Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, and senior officials of the Department of Revenue.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Scrap dealer floats bogus companies to get Rs 23 crore ITC, held
Noida: In a major crackdown on tax evasion, CGST officers have uncovered a Rs 23.5 crore fraudulent input tax credit (ITC) racket linked to a Bulandshahr-based scrap trader, which officials say was run using fake invoices and non-existent firms. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, GST officials conducted searches at M/s New Global Scrap Traders, based out of Sikandrabad, and eight other premises in the western UP district that were registered as business addresses of suppliers associated with the firm. All the addresses were found to be fictitious, raising immediate red flags. Officers said the firm had claimed and passed on ITC without any actual movement of goods—indicating a systematic scam involving forged documentation —between 2021-22 and 2022-23. ITC is a credit that companies can seek from govt for having already paid GST while purchasing any item or service for running their own business. For example, if a firm pays Rs 15,000 GST on purchases and collects Rs 20,000 GST from sales, it can claim Rs 15,000 as ITC, paying only the balance Rs 5,000 to the govt. During interrogation, Azaharuddin, proprietor of the firm, told officers that he passed on ITC solely by exchanging invoices with bogus entities. Officials say the scheme relied on generating fake invoices to illegally claim tax credits, which were then passed on to other firms, causing significant losses to the govt.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Tax experts raise concerns over misuse of GST audit scrutiny notices
Ahmedabad: Tax experts and industry representatives on Monday raised concerns over the widespread issuance of GST audit scrutiny notices under Section 74(A), meant for fraudulent practices, during a GST conclave jointly organised by the Central GST (CGST) Ahmedabad Zone and the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). The experts pointed out that such notices should be reserved only for cases involving suspicious or fraudulent activity. "Majority of scrutiny notices are being issued under Section 74(A) instead of Section 73, which applies to genuine discrepancies. This results in unnecessary penalties and denies taxpayers access to the amnesty scheme," said Deep Thakkar, co-chairman of GCCI's indirect tax committee. He urged CGST authorities to issue Section 74 (A) notices only in cases where fraud is suspected, rather than applying it as a blanket rule. He also called for digitisation of all notices and orders to eliminate the need for manual processing, and requested faster processing of GST registrations. Sunil Kumar Mall, chief commissioner of CGST Ahmedabad Zone, said, "We've taken several steps to facilitate taxpayers and increased the number of officers for GST registration to ease the process." Addressing the industry's concerns, Sanjay Bansal, principal commissioner of CGST Ahmedabad, noted that GST is set to complete eight years, and the govt continues to prioritise ease of doing business, particularly for MSMEs. CGST officials assured stakeholders that feedback from the conclave will be considered and necessary steps will be taken to address the concerns raised.
