CHENNAI: Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) chairman Vivek Chaturvedi has asked field officers to ensure the smooth rollout of the biggest change in GST enforcement and compliance rules — ending arrest powers, speeding up refunds and curbing small-value notices.
After the meeting with traders and CBIC officers in Chennai on Monday, he told officers that trade facilitation must not come at the cost of government revenue. The changes flow from the 57th GST Council meeting in New Delhi on October 8. The council recommended omitting the section of the CGST Act that gives officers the power to arrest.
It also proposed raising the threshold for prosecution from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, cutting the maximum general penalty from Rs 25,000 to Rs 10,000 and barring show-cause notices where the tax involved is less than Rs 10,000.
Besides, refunds of excess cash-ledger balances would be sanctioned automatically. For exporters and businesses hit by inverted duty structures, the system would release 90% of a claim on a provisional basis. The time to issue an acknowledgement or deficiency memo would fall from 15 to 10 days.
