Stressing on the need to wholly understand the GST law so as to avoid any malfeasance Mr MRR Reddy, Principal Additional Director General – Director General GST Intelligence, Visakhapatnam Zone said that better understanding of GST law helps to prevent many litigations at the preliminary stage.

Speaking on GST Departmental Audit he said it is the process of examining a taxable person’s records, returns, and other documentation. The Goal of the GST Departmental audit is to ensure that turnover declared, taxes paid, refunds claimed, and input tax credits claimed are valid and in compliance with GST regulations, said the Principal Additional Director General – Director General GST Intelligence.

‘GST department is user friendly and we have been conducting many awareness programs for business to understand the problem of the other side’ stated Mr Reddy addressing a CII session on GST departmental audit and enforcement.

He further informed that as per section 65 and Rule 101(3) of GST Audit Rules, the Commissioner or an Officer authorized by him can conduct a GST audit to verify the details of the ‘records’ and the ‘books of account’ of the registered person, along with the assistance of the team of officers and officials accompanying him.

Upon the conclusion of the GST audit, the authorized officer shall inform the findings, rights and obligations, and the reasons for the given findings to the registered person, within a period of 30 days in FORM GST ADT-02.

If the registered taxpayer is found at fault, such as wrongly availed/utilized ITC, the authorized officer can proceed as per the procedure laid down under section 73 or Section 74 of GST Audit Rules. 

If taxpayers are facing any genuine issues with the Department, he can escalate for resolution, said Mr Reddy.

Mr Anil Kumar Bezawada, Convenor, Finance & Taxation Panel of CII Visakhapatnam & Practicing Advocate of AP High Court highlighted specific industry disputes pending before the AP high court and suggested insights of what type of GST cases, appeals and issues to be filed with the high court for early resolution of disputes instead of going for regular appeal route.

Sharing the industry perspective on GST, Mr P Rajesh, Chairman & Managing Director of PBL Transport Corporation Pvt ltd highlighted the key advantages of GST Digitalization, KYC of customers and suppliers on the GST Portal, and how AI Tools benefitted business entities. 

Giving his suggestion to the GST Department, Mr Rajesh opined that if Petroleum products are brought under Input Tax Credits, it will help to bring down logistics costs in India significantly. Chairman CII Visakhapatnam Dr. PP Lal Krishna along with Grandhi Rajesh, Vice Chairman, CII Visakha- patnam and CA Ashish Chaudhary, Partner, HNA & Co LLP along with CA Vikram Katariya, Partner, HNA & Co LLP, spoke on the occasion.