CBIC issued SOP for scrutiny of returns for FY 2017-18 and 2018-19

The CBIC issued Standard Operating Procedure (“SOP”) vide Instruction No. 02/2022-GST dated March 22, 2022 for scrutiny of returns for FY 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Section 61 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as “the CGST Act”) read with rule 99 of Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as “the CGST Rules”) provides for scrutiny of returns and related particulars furnished by the registered person. Till the time a Scrutiny Module for online scrutiny of returns is made available on the CBIC-GST application, as an interim measure, the following Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is being issued by the Board in order to ensure uniformity in selection/ identification of returns for scrutiny, methodology of scrutiny of such returns and other related procedures.

Relevant statutory provisions

Section 61 of the CGST Act, read with rule 99 of the CGST Rules, provides for scrutiny of returns. The same are reproduced below for reference:

Section 61. Scrutiny of returns:

“(1) The proper officer may scrutinize the return and related particulars furnished by the registered person to verify the correctness of the return and inform him of the discrepancies noticed, if any, in such manner as may be prescribed and seek his explanation thereto.

(2) In case the explanation is found acceptable, the registered person shall be informed accordingly and no further action shall be taken in this regard.

(3) In case no satisfactory explanation is furnished within a period of thirty days of being informed by the proper officer or such further period as may be permitted by him or where the registered person, after accepting the discrepancies, fails to take the corrective measure in his return for the month in which the discrepancy is accepted, the proper officer may initiate appropriate action including those under section 65 or section 66 or section 67, or proceed to determine the tax and other dues under section 73 or section 74.”

Rule 99. Scrutiny of returns:

“(1) Where any return furnished by a registered person is selected for scrutiny, the proper officer shall scrutinize the same in accordance with the provisions of section 61 with reference to the information available with him, and in case of any discrepancy, he shall issue a notice to the said person in FORM GST ASMT-10, informing him of such discrepancy and seeking his explanation thereto within such time, not exceeding thirty days from the date of service of the notice or such further period as may be permitted by him and also, where possible, quantifying the amount of tax, interest and any other amount payable in relation to such discrepancy.

(2) The registered person may accept the discrepancy mentioned in the notice issued under subrule (1), and pay the tax, interest and any other amount arising from such discrepancy and inform the same or furnish an explanation for the discrepancy in FORM GST ASMT-11 to the proper officer.

(3) Where the explanation furnished by the registered person or the information submitted under sub-rule (2) is found to be acceptable, the proper officer shall inform him accordingly in FORM GST ASMT-12.”

The aforementioned provisions suggest that scrutiny of returns, inter-alia, entails the following:

Selection of returns furnished by a registered person for scrutiny, preferably based on robust risk parameters.

Scrutiny of the returns and related particulars furnished by the registered person to verify the correctness of the return. Information available with the proper officer in various returns and statements furnished by the registered person and the data/details made available through various sources like DGARM, ADVAIT, GSTN, E-Way Bill Portal, etc. may be relied upon for this purpose.

Informing the registered person of the discrepancies noticed, if any, along with quantification of the amount of tax, interest and any other amount payable in relation to such discrepancy and seeking his explanation thereto.

Where the registered person accepts the discrepancy and pays the tax, interest and any other amount arising from such discrepancy or where the explanation furnished by the registered person is found acceptable, conclude the proceedings after informing the registered person.

Where no satisfactory explanation is furnished by the registered person or where the registered person, after accepting the discrepancy, fails to pay the tax, interest and any other amount arising from such discrepancy, initiate appropriate action including those under section 65 or section 66 or section 67, or determination of tax and other dues under section 73 or section 74 of the CGST Act.

Selection of returns for scrutiny

Selection of returns for scrutiny is to be based on specific risk parameters. For this purpose, the Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM) has been assigned the task to select the GSTINs registered with Central tax authorities, whose returns are to be scrutinized, and to communicate the same to the field formations from time to time through the DDM portal (to the nodal officer of the Commissionerate concerned) for further action.

For convenience of field officers, DGARM would also provide some relevant data (along with likely revenue implication) pertaining to the returns to be scrutinized through the DDM portal. It may be noted that the data provided by the DGARM is generated at a particular point of time which may undergo change at the time of scrutiny of returns by the proper officer due to subsequent compliances carried out by the taxpayer or by the suppliers of the taxpayer. The proper officer shall, therefore, rely upon the latest available data. 

Proper officer for scrutiny of returns

Vide Circular No. 3/3/2017 – GST dated July 05, 2017, “Superintendent of Central Tax” has been assigned the functions as the proper officer in relation to sub-section (1) and sub-section (3) of section 61 of the CGST Act. Accordingly, scrutiny of returns of a taxpayer may be conducted by Superintendent of Central Tax in-charge of the jurisdictional range of the said taxpayer.

Scrutiny Schedule

Once the list of GSTINs, whose returns have been selected for scrutiny, is communicated to the field formations, the proper officer, with the approval of the divisional Assistant / Deputy Commissioner, shall finalize a scrutiny schedule. Such scrutiny schedule will specify month-wise schedule for scrutiny in respect of all the GSTINs selected for scrutiny. While preparing the scrutiny schedule, the scrutiny of the GSTINs, which appear to be riskier based on the likely revenue implication indicated by DGARM, may be prioritized. Such scrutiny schedules in respect of all the ranges within the CGST Zone shall be reported to the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax (DGGST) by the concerned Zone, in the format enclosed as Annexure A.

The proper officer shall conduct scrutiny of returns pertaining to minimum of 3 GSTINs per month. Scrutiny of returns of one GSTIN shall mean scrutiny of all returns pertaining to a financial year for which the said GSTIN has been identified for scrutiny.

Process of scrutiny by the Proper Officer

The Proper Officer shall scrutinize the returns and related particulars furnished by the registered person to verify the correctness of the returns. Information available with the proper officer on the system in the form of various returns and statements furnished by the registered person and the data/details made available through various sources like DGARM, ADVAIT, GSTN, E-Way Bill Portal, etc. may be relied upon for this purpose.

For convenience of proper officers, an indicative list of parameters to be verified is enclosed as Annexure B. It may be noted that the said list is only indicative, and not exhaustive. The proper officer may also consider any other parameter, as he may deem fit, for the purpose of scrutiny.

It may be noted that at this stage, the proper officer is expected to rely upon the information available with him or with the department. As far as possible, scrutiny of returns should have minimal interface between the proper officer and the registered person and, there should normally not be any need for seeking documents/ records from the taxpayers before issuance of FORM GST ASMT-10.

The proper officer shall issue a notice to the registered person in FORM GST ASMT-10 informing him of the discrepancies noticed and seeking his explanation thereto. While issuing such notice, the Proper Officer may, as far as possible, quantify the amount of tax, interest and any other amount payable in relation to such discrepancies. It may also be ensured that the discrepancies so communicated may, as far as possible, be specific in nature and not vague or general. There may be cases where the registered person may already have made additional payment of tax, cess, etc., after filing of the returns for the relevant tax period, through FORM GST DRC-03. The payments thus made through FORM GST DRC-03 may also be taken into consideration while communicating discrepancies to the taxpayer in FORM GST ASMT-10.

For each GSTIN identified for scrutiny for a financial year, the proper officer is required to scrutinize all the returns pertaining to the corresponding Financial Year under consideration and a single compiled notice in FORM GST ASMT-10 may be issued to the taxpayer for that financial year.

The registered person may accept the discrepancy mentioned in the notice issued in FORM GST ASMT-10, and pay the tax, interest and any other amount arising from such discrepancy through FORM GST DRC-03 and inform the same or may furnish an explanation for the discrepancy in FORM GST ASMT-11 to the proper officer within the time period prescribed under rule 99 of CGST Rules.

Where the explanation furnished by the registered person or the information submitted in respect of acceptance of discrepancy and payment of dues is found to be acceptable by the Proper Officer, he shall conclude the proceedings by informing the registered person in FORM GST ASMT-12.

In case no satisfactory explanation is furnished by the registered person in FORM GST ASMT-11 within a period of thirty days of being informed by the proper officer or such further period as may be permitted by him or where the registered person, after accepting the discrepancies, fails to pay the tax, interest and any other amount arising from such discrepancies, the proper officer, may proceed to determine the tax and other dues under section 73 or section 74. Needless to mention, for proceeding under section 73 or section 74, monetary limits as specified in Circular No. 31/05/2018-GST dated February 09, 2018 shall be adhered to.  However, if the proper officer is of the opinion that the matter needs to be pursued further through audit or investigation to determine the correct liability of the said registered person, then he may refer the matter to the jurisdictional Principal Commissioner / Commissioner through the divisional Assistant / Deputy Commissioner, for the decision whether the matter needs to be referred to Audit Commissionerate or Anti-evasion Wing of the Commissionerate, as the case may be.

Timelines for scrutiny of returns

Scrutiny of returns is to be conducted in a time bound manner, so that necessary action to safeguard revenue may be taken up expeditiously. In this regard, the following timelines may be observed by all concerned: 

S. no.	Process/Event	Timeline/ Frequency
(i)	Communication of list of GSTINs selected for scrutiny (by DGARM to the nodal officer of the Commissionerate concerned)	From time to time.
(ii)	Distribution of the list of GSTINs selected for scrutiny by the nodal officer to the proper officers concerned.	Within three working days of receipt of the list from DGARM.
(iii)	Finalization of scrutiny schedule with the approval of the concerned Assistant/Deputy Commissioner	Within seven working days of receipt of the details of the concerned GSTINs from the nodal officer.
(iv)	Sharing the scrutiny schedule by the zone with DGGST	Within thirty days of receipt of the details of the concerned GSTINs from DGARM.
(v)	Issuance of notice by the proper officer for intimating discrepancies in FORM GST ASMT-10, where required	Within the month, as mentioned in scrutiny schedule for scrutiny of the returns of the said GSTIN.
(vi)	Reply by the registered person in FORM GST ASMT-11	Within a period of thirty days of being informed by the proper officer in FORM GST ASMT-10 or such further period as may be permitted by the proper officer
(vii)	Issuance of order in FORM GST ASMT-12 for acceptance of reply furnished by the registered person, where applicable	Within thirty days from receipt of reply from the registered person in FORM GST ASMT-11
(viii)	Initiation of appropriate action for determination of the tax and other dues under section 73 or section 74, in cases where no reply is furnished by the registered person	Within a period of fifteen days after completion of the period of thirty days of issuance of notice in FORM GST ASMT-10 or such further period as permitted by the proper officer
(ix)	Initiation of appropriate action for determination of the tax and other dues under section 73 or section 74, in cases where reply is furnished by the registered person, but the same is not found acceptable by the proper officer	Within thirty days from receipt of reply from the registered person in FORM GST ASMT-11
(x)	Reference, if any, to the Commissioner for decision regarding appropriate action under section 65 or section 66 or section 67	Within thirty days from receipt of reply from the registered person in FORM GST ASMT-11 or within a period of forty-five days of issuance of FORM GST ASMT-10, in case no explanation is furnished by the registered person.

It may also be ensured while conducting scrutiny that the requisite action for issuing notices/orders is taken well ahead of the time limits as prescribed in section 73 or section 74 of the CGST Act, as the case may be, in respect of a return identified for scrutiny for a financial year.

Reporting and Monitoring

A Scrutiny Register shall be maintained by the proper officer in respect of the GSTINs allotted for scrutiny, in the format detailed in Annexure C. The progress of the scrutiny exercise as per the scrutiny schedule shall be monitored by the jurisdictional Principal Commissioner/ Commissioner on monthly basis. Further, a Scrutiny Progress Report, in the format detailed in Annexure D, shall be prepared by the proper officer at the end of every month. The monthly Scrutiny Progress Report for each Commissionerate of the CGST Zone shall be compiled for each month and forwarded to the Director General of Goods and Service Tax (DGGST) by the Principal Chief Commissioner/Chief Commissioner of the concerned Zone by 10th day of the succeeding month. The DGGST, in turn, would present the progress report to the Board, through the GST Policy Wing, by the 20th day of the corresponding month.

Till the time scrutiny module is made available on the CBIC-GST application/AIO for CBIC officers, the aforesaid interim procedure for scrutiny of returns may be conducted on manual basis. Any communication with the taxpayer for the purpose of scrutiny shall be made with the use of DIN as per the guidelines mentioned in the Circular No. 122/41/2019-GST dated November 05, 2019.

This SOP is envisaged to enable the department to leverage technology and risk-based tools to encourage self-compliance and to conduct scrutiny of returns with minimal interaction with the registered persons. All Principal Chief Commissioners (PCCs)/ Chief Commissioners (CCs) are requested to closely monitor timely scrutiny of returns of the identified GSTINs within their jurisdictions.

Source form - https://www.cbic.gov.in/resources//htdocs-cbec/gst/instruction-no-022022-gst-dated-22032022.pdf