CBIC tightens scrutiny to curb GST evasion

- Antenna: Vivek Mehta

- Whether the sales shown in e-way bill are reflected in GSTR-2 insurance or not should also be carefully compared.

The scandal of bogus billing and taking input tax credit in goods and services tax does not leave the government in the lurch. The collusion of some officials is equally responsible. The officials are the ones who are making huge sums of money by giving scams to people like their folders. The government is facing billions in this. Even the bigwigs of the Goods and Services Tax are not unaware of this fact. They also cannot replace responsible officials under the influence of wealthy corporates. Politicians are also becoming the hands of corporates in this matter. As a result, the bogus billing scandal does not stop. It has come out a year and a half ago that all the officials of Bhavnagar GST office in Gujarat were involved in it. The government is satisfied with their transfer and suspension of the two. But the bogus billing activity that started as a result of their collusion has not been completely stopped till date. As a result, the CBIC has issued a new guideline on March 8, planning to make the scrutiny guideline more sophisticated to catch the caterpillar kings taking advantage of loopholes in its system.

In case of any mismatch between the sales details given in Form GSTR-1 and the details of supply made in GSTR-2B along with the details of Goods and Services Tax submitted along with the details of sales given by the trader as per this guideline. A complete guideline with this instruction has been issued on 5th March. Surprisingly, the government has not yet been able to fully activate the system so that the invoice of the buyer and the seller match with the invoice uploaded.

In the same way, under the reverse charge mechanism, the return has to be forwarded only if it is taxable in proportion to the amount of GST payable under the reverse charge mechanism which is in line with the obligation declared in GSTR2B. Similarly, under the reverse charge mechanism, it has been asked to check whether there is a difference between the tax liability stated in GSTR 3A and the liability declared in GSTR 2B. Under the RCM-reverse charge mechanism, it has been asked to scrutinize the return even if it appears that the amount deposited is less than the liability declared in GSTR2B.

The amount of input tax credit taken in ISD should be compared with the input tax credit shown in Table 7 of GSTR-3A. All input tax credits taken through GSTR-2B should be compared with the input tax credits taken in GSTR-2.

The outward tax liability shown in GSTR-3B should not be less than the TDS or TCS shown in GSTR-2. The details of the sales shown in the e-way bill will also have to be carefully compared with the GSTR-3 insurance. It will also be necessary to verify how much input tax credit has been taken in respect of traders whose registrations have already been canceled. No input tax credit can be taken in that return after the deadline for filing GSTR2B expires in September.

If the input tax credit of imported goods has been taken in GSTR-3B, then it has to be checked whether the input tax credit shown in GSTR-3A is in proportion to the credit. Proceed only after verifying how much input tax credit has been reversed under the tax-free supply rules No. 2 and 3 shown in the return.

In this regard, it has been instructed not to take further action against the trader only if an explanation is sought from him and if his explanation is found satisfactory.