‘Stern Action against GST Non-Compliance Business Owners’- JCCT Dr M Shobha Rani
‘Stern Action against GST Non-Compliance Business Owners’- Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Administration)-DGSTO, Mangaluru- Dr M Shobha Rani
Mangaluru: Adding yet another seminar pertaining to GST organized in the past few months, Kanara Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), Mangaluru organized a programme on GST Annual Return, GST Audit and Recent Amendments in GST, on Wednesday, 27 February 2019 at KCCI Meeting Hall, from 9.30 am till 5 pm.
GST is an Indirect Tax which has replaced many Indirect Taxes in India. The Goods and Service Tax Act was passed in the Parliament on 29th March 2017. The Act came into effect on 1st July 2017; Goods & Services Tax Law in India is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destination-based tax that is levied on every value addition. In simple words, Goods and Service Tax (GST) is an indirect tax levied on the supply of goods and services. This law has replaced many indirect tax laws that previously existed in India. GST is one indirect tax for the entire country.
Following the welcome address by P B Abdul Hameed, the President of KCCI, the chief guest of the programme, Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes (Administration)-DGSTO, Mangaluru – Dr M Shobha Rani was introduced by Issac Vas- the Vice President of KCCI. The programme was inaugurated by lighting the lamp by the Chief Guest, along with other dignitaries on the dais namely- CA Collin Rodrigues, CA Keshava N Balllakurya, CA G Nandagopal Shenoy, Prashanth C G (Hon Secretary), Shashidar Pai Maroor (Hon Sec), and Ganesh Kamath ( Hon Treasurer) all of KCCI.
Addressing the audience, Dr M Shobha Rani said, “It’s a privilege addressing you all first time after taking this post in Mangaluru. GST is one indirect tax for the entire country, which needs to be adhered to by Business owners, Taxation Professionals, and CA’s. The GST law is out with some clear instructions which must be adhered to. Any violation could lead to adverse consequences and heavy penalty. It’s specifically important for Taxation Professionals. To keep tax evasion and corruption at bay, GST has come up with some stringent action against offenders who are subject to penalty, arrest and prosecution”.
“There exist 21 offences under GST, which are subject to a fine/penalty of Rs. 10,000 or more depending on the tax amount, under the Central Goods & Services Tax Act 2017. Some of the major offences under GST Act are- Supplying goods and/or services without issuing an invoice and/or issuing a wrong/incorrect invoice, Providing a bill without supplying goods and/or services, Collecting tax but failing to submit it to the government within 3 months, Collecting full or part input tax credit without having the original bill of the goods/services, Obtaining tax refund by fraudulent means, Producing false financial records to file a false return, Failing to deposit tax returns to the government, Providing incorrect information during the registration, Failing to provide proper information to the CGST/SGST or providing fraudulent information, Providing an invoice with the identification of another person” added Dr Shobha Rani.
She further said, “In any of the cases that I mentioned here under Sec.122 failing to provide correct information will be liable to pay penalties up to Rs. 25,000. There are chances you may even be imprisoned for GST non-Compliance. Once you are caught, it will be a long time before everything is rectified. Hence, a taxpayer must be cautious and transparent in order to avoid penalty and/or punishment for violating GST rules. To avoid the cumbersome process of penalty and imprisonment, a taxpayer must abide by the rules under GST. A taxpayer must seek guidance from GST Council to stay compliant with GST. Programmes like this one organized by KCCI does bring awareness so that everyone in business adheres to the GST rules”.
Following the vote of thanks by Shashidhar Pai Maroor, the formal function was taken over by CA Collin O Rodrigues to give talk on “Form GST 9 and GST 9A and How to prepare for GST Audit (Preparation for GST 9C)”, which was from 10 am-1 pm. After lunch, CA Keshava N Ballakurya spoke on “Important recent Amendments in GST”from 2 pm-3.30 pm; from 3.30 pm- 5 pm, CA G Nandagopal Shenoy spoke on “Ease of doing business with GST and Scope for Improvement”. After group discussion, the programme ended with vote of thanks by Prashanth C G.
