Deluge of GST notices to peak in Jan, wane post Apr

NEW DELHI – Several companies in India were greeted by the taxman at the onset of the festival season four months ago. Central, state, and investigative GST authorities have sent out a flurry of goods and service tax notices since September, and these are likely to continue till the end of April, experts said.

The spike in GST notices, expected to peak this month, is on account of approaching deadlines for issuing notices and orders for the assessment year 2018-19 (Apr-Mar), they said.  

"The spurt in issuing notices will be in January for the assessment period 2018-19 owing to the deadline," said Saloni Roy, partner at Deloitte India. The deadlines for issuing GST show cause notices and orders for the assessment year 2017-18 were Sep 30, 2023 and Dec 31, 2023, respectively, while for 2018-19 they are Jan 31, 2024 and Apr 30, 2024. Assessments for these two years were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Media reports said GST authorities have issued demand notices totalling about 1.45 trln rupees in December alone over discrepancies in annual returns and claims for input tax credit for financial year 2017-18.

The frequency of these notices will decline over time, said Ankur Gupta, practice leader of Indirect Tax at SW India. “The scrutiny notices might go down, and the only relevant ones may be the ones issued by investigating offices like Directorate General of GST Intelligence and other anti-evasion authorities applicable only in exceptional circumstances."

Source : https://www.informistmedia.com/chome/deluge-gst-notices-peak-jan-wane-post-apr/