MM TAX CLUB

It has been brought to the notice of the Central Board of Direct Taxes ('Board') that due to certain technical issues or for other reasons not attributable to the asses sees concerned, several returns for assessment years (AYs) 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, which were otherwise filed validly under section 139 or 142(1) or 119 of the Income tax Act, 1961 ('Act') could not be processed under sub-section (I) of section 143 of the Act. Consequently, intimation regarding processing of such returns could not be sent within the timeframe prescribed under sub-section (I) of section 143 of the Act. This has led to a situation where the taxpayers are unable to get their legitimate refund in accordance with provisions of the Act, although the delay may not be attributable to them. 

2. To resolve the grievances of such taxpayers, the Board had earlier issued instructions/orders U/S 119 of the Act from time to time relaxing the prescribed statutory time limit for processing of such validly filed returns with refund claims in non-scrutiny cases. As per the latest order dated 16th October, 2023, time frame was given tiIl31.01.2024 to process returns of income validly filed electronically with refund claims upto AY2017-18

3. The matter has been considered by the Board in view of pending grievances of taxpayers related to issue of refund for AYs 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21. To mitigate genuine hardship being faced by the taxpayers on this issue, the Board, by virtue of powers vested with it under section 119 of the Act, hereby relaxes the time-frame prescribed in second proviso to sub-section (I) of section 143 and directs that all returns of income validly filed electronically with refund claims for AYs 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, for which date of sending intimation under sub-section (I) of section 143 of the Act has lapsed, subject to the exceptions mentioned in para 5 below, can be processed now with prior administrative approval of Pr.CCIT/CCIT concerned. The intimation of such processing under sub-section (I) of section 143 of the Act can be sent to the assessee concerned by 31.01.2024.

4. All subsequent effects under the Act including issue of refund shall also follow as per the prescribed procedures. To ensure adequate safeguards, it has been decided that once administrative approval is accorded by the Pr.CCIT/CCIT, the Pr.CIT/CIT concerned would make a reference to the DOlT (Systems) to provide necessary enablernent to the Assessing Officer on a case to case basis. The progress of disposal of such cases shall be monitored by the Pr.CIT/CIT concerned. 

5. The relaxation accorded above shall not be applicable to the fo llowing returns:

a) returns selected in scrutiny;

b) returns remain unprocessed, where either demand is shown as payable in the return or is likely to arise after processing it;

c) returns remain unprocessed for any reason attributable to the assessee.

6. This may be brought to the notice of all for necessary compliance.

7. Hindi version to follow. 

This is to inform taxpayers about recent developments concerning the application process for GST registration. It is advised to keep the following key points in mind during the registration process.

1. Rule 8 of the CGST Rules, 2017 has been amended to provide that an applicant can be identified on the common portal, based on data analysis and risk parameters for Biometric-based Aadhaar Authentication and taking photograph of the applicant along with the verification of the original copy of the documents uploaded with the application.

2. The above-said functionality has been developed by GSTN. It will be rolled out in Andhra Pradesh on 4th December, 2023.

3. The said functionality now also provides for the document verification and appointment booking process. After the submission of the application in Form GST REG-01, the applicant will receive either of the following links in the e-mail,

(a)   A Link for OTP-based Aadhaar Authentication OR

(b)    A link for booking an appointment with a message to visit a GST Suvidha Kendra (GSK) along with the details of the GSK and jurisdiction, for Biometric-based Aadhaar Authentication and document verification (the intimation e-mail)

4. If the applicant receives the link for OTP-based Aadhaar Authentication as mentioned in point 3(a), she/he can proceed with the application as per the existing process.

5. However, if the applicant receives the link as mentioned in point 3(b), she/he will be required to book the appointment to visit the designated GSK, using the link provided in the e-mail. Once the applicant gets the confirmation of appointment through e-mail (the appointment confirmation e-mail), she/he will be able to visit the designated GSK as per the chosen schedule.

6. At the time of the visit of GSK, the applicant is required to carry the following details.

(a)    a copy (hard/soft) of the appointment confirmation e-mail

(b)    the details of jurisdiction as mentioned in the intimation e-mail

(c)    Aadhaar Number

(d)    the original documents that were uploaded with the application, as communicated by the intimation e-mail.

7.  The biometric authentication and document verification will be done at the GSK, for all the required individuals as per the GST application Form REG-01.

8.  The applicant is required to choose an appointment for the biometric verification during the maximum permissible period for the application as indicated in the intimation e-mail. In such cases, ARNs will be generated once the Biometric-based Aadhaar Authentication process and document verification are completed.

9.  The feature of booking an appointment to visit a designated GSK is currently available for the applicants of the Andhra Pradesh.

10.   The operation days and hours of GSKs will be as per the guidelines provided by the administration in your respective state.

Advisory: Two-factor Authentication for Taxpayers

1.  GSTN is introducing two-factor authentication (2FA) for taxpayers to strengthen the login security in GST portal. The pilot rollout has been done for a state of Haryana and working seamlessly. Currently, 2FA will be rolled out for Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Delhi in 1st phase. In 2nd phase, it is planned to be rolled out all states across India.

2.  Taxpayers would need to provide one-time password (OTP) post entering user id and password, the OTP will be delivered to their Primary Authorized Signatory “Mobile number and E-mail id”.

3.  Tax-payers are requested to keep their email and mobile number of authorized signatory updated on the GST Portal for receiving the OTP communication. This OTP would only be asked, in case the tax-payer changes the system (desktop or laptop or browser) and location.

4.  The solution would be rolled out from 1st of December’2023.

Based on an intelligence, the officers of Customs (Preventive) Commissionerate Delhi, searched and recovered 5,48,800 lakh cigarette sticks of foreign origin worth around Rs. 55.23 lakh, yesterday.

The cigarettes of different brands including, Platinum Seven, Davidoff, Dunhill and Mond have been recovered. The recovered foreign origin cigarettes do not have mandatory pictorial health warning on the packets

It is suspected that these cigarettes were imported illegally/smuggled into the country, evading Customs Duty and also violated the ‘Cigarettes & other Tobacco Products (Packaging & labelling) amendment Rules, 2022’ and being supplied in the domestic market.

During investigation one accused was arrested under Section 104 of the Customs Act, 1962 and later released on bail. Further investigation into the matter is in progress..

Gross GST collection crosses ₹1.60 lakh crore mark for the sixth time in FY 2023-24

GST collection higher by 11.9% Y-o-Y for FY2023-24 upto November, 2023

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of November, 2023 is ₹1,67,929 crore out of which CGST is ₹30,420 crore, SGST is ₹38,226 crore, IGST is ₹87,009 crore (including ₹39,198 crore collected on import of goods) and cess is ₹12,274 crore (including ₹ 1,036 crore collected on import of goods).

The government has settled ₹37,878 crore to CGST and ₹31,557 crore to SGST from IGST. The total revenue of Centre and the States in the month of November, 2023 after regular settlement is ₹68,297 crore for CGST and ₹69,783 crore for the SGST.

The revenues for the month of November, 2023 are 15% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year and highest for any month year-on-year during 2023-24, upto November 2023. During the month, the revenues from domestic transactions (including import of services) are 20% higher than the revenues from these sources during the same month last year. It is for the sixth time that the gross GST collection has crossed ₹1.60 lakh crore mark in FY 2023-24.The gross GST collection for the FY 2023-24 ending November, 2023 [₹13,32,440 crore, averaging ₹1.66 lakh per month] is 11.9 % higher than the gross GST collection for the FY 2022-23 ending November, 2022 [₹11,90,920 crore, averaging ₹1.49 lakh crore per month].

The chart below shows trends in monthly gross GST revenues during the current year. Table-1 shows the state-wise figures of GST collected in each State during the month of November 2023 as compared to November 2022. Table-2 shows the state-wise figures of post settlement GST revenue of each State till the month of November 2023.