Now curb the evasion of GST leader

Just like the CASS (Computer Assisted Scrutiny Selection) system currently in place in the Income Tax Department where certain standardized notices are issued automatically, the GST Department will also have this new procedure. The government has taken this step further with a view to bring more industries and transactions under the ambit of the GST Act and widen the ambit of GST. This automated return verification system will help the government in curbing tax evasion, ensuring strict compliance with the law and collecting more revenue; But the number of notices to taxpayers is likely to be higher in the initial period.

Along with automated statement scrutiny, the government has brought down the annual sales-turnover limit for online invoicing (e-invoicing) from Rs 10 crore to Rs 5 crore in case of business-to-business (B2B) transactions. These changes will come into effect from August 1, 2023. d. On 10th May 2023, the Union Finance Ministry has announced that the limit for e-invoices has been lowered. Currently, e-invoices are mandatory for taxpayers with annual sales above Rs 10 crore.

In the 37th meeting of the GST Council held in September 2019, the nature, status and necessity of e-invoices in the GST system was first clarified. Similarly, as a gradual upgrade from regular invoices, it was planned that e-invoice generated from GST software can be viewed on any other software, machine and can be understood uniformly all over the country.

Initially, the e-invoice scheme was implemented only for those enterprises whose annual sales turnover was above 500 crores; But that limit was reduced from Rs 500 crore to Rs 5 crore in just three years. From October 1, 2020, it was made mandatory for taxpayers with annual sales above Rs 500 crore to issue e-invoices for B2B transactions. Subsequently, e-invoicing was implemented from 1 January 2021 for those with sales above 100 crores, from 1 April 2021 for those with sales above 50 crores, from 1 April 2022 for those with sales above 20 crores, and from 1 October 2022 for those with sales above 10 crores, now from 1 August 2023. It has been made mandatory for those with sales above 5 crores.

The uniform functioning of e-invoices in the country has reduced the need for tax officials to get advance information about the returns to be paid by the taxpayers and other calculations for revenue reconciliation. Due to increasing cases of fake invoices and input tax credit, the government felt the need to implement the e-invoice system in advance. Due to which strict action will be taken against tax evasion and scams will help in the future.

Shirish Kunde,
Retired Chartered Officer of Central Indirect Tax Department