GST notices from multiple states: CBIC notifies common authority to adjudicate

In a move that is likely to help firms struggling with GST notices from different states, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has started designating a single common authority to deal with similar matters of an assesses who has different GST numbers across the country. 

The CBIC has recently notified a single authority for adjudication of notices received by BSH Household Appliances Manufacturing. The company has offices in Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru and had received GST notices from tax departments in all three cities. To simplify matters related to adjudication for the firm, the CBIC has notified Joint or Additional Commissioner of Central Tax, Bengaluru South Central Excise and GST Commissionerate as the common authority. 

The initiative, which is expected to be implemented on a larger scale, is likely to give much reprieve to companies, many of whom are facing GST notices in different states. This is because under GST law, a company that functions in several states has to register separately with the GST authorities and file monthly returns and pay taxes in each state.  

Experts said the recent move by CBIC comes in response to persistent representation from taxpayers for a unified and central adjudicating authority to handle adjudication pertaining to similar issues, regardless of the source authority. 

Saurabh Agarwal, Tax Partner, EY noted that companies have been facing with challenges due to the influx of multiple GST notices from various states. “As the deadline for passing orders under GST approaches, the number of notices to be addressed has significantly surged. The appointment of a common authority will alleviate the burden of presenting the same case before multiple authorities, providing much-needed relief to the taxpayers as well as to the revenue,” he said. 

The move is expected to help service sector companies, especially those in the financial sector such as banks and insurance firms that have offices across the country. 

Similarly, to help such businesses, the tax authorities are also working on uniform GST audit guidelines to provide tax certainty and ensure that firms with offices in multiple states have to provide similar documents in each audit.  

The CBIC has already published a GST audit manual that specifies the list of documents and timelines for conducting audits and is also planning to streamline the exercise to allow for online audits.