New Delhi: Leading financial expert Ajay Rotti on Thursday hailed tax simplification and process-related reforms in the proposals announced by the 57th GST Council.
On the decision to remove tax officials’ powers of arrest and raise the prosecution threshold from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, he told IANS that the tax laws have their own provisions for prosecution.
“If there’s a criminality involved in anything that you do with taxes like misuse or fraud, the IPC or the BNS takes its own course. Earlier, the tax officers also had the powers to arrest, and the police also got the powers to arrest. The tax officers’ powers have now been curtailed, rightly so, because if there’s criminality anywhere, the criminal law can take its own course,” the expert noted.
On the practical benefits for MSMEs with the withdrawal of notices related to tax demands of up to Rs 10,000, Rotti said it is a great move.
“Taking out these low-value notices reduces the burden both on the taxpayer and on the GST department to track whether those penalties have been paid, etc. So that’s again a good move for ease of doing business,” he said.
Multiple small changes announced show that the GST Council teams have been having their ears to the ground and have really heard the industry concerns, said Rotti.
The GST Council has recommended removal of arrest provisions under GST; raising prosecution threshold from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore; reduction in general penalty from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10,000; wider eligibility for input tax credit and refunds; further simplification of registration and compliance processes; faster refunds to improve working capital for businesses; and common standards for GST notices and proceedings, among others.
It has also recommended measures for smoother movement of goods across states; intelligence-based and authorised interception of goods; simplified GST registration for small sellers on e-commerce platforms; and measures to facilitate export of services.
(IANS)
