"Finance Bill May Enable ‘Track & Trace System’ to Curb Tax Evasion"
The Finance Bill 2025 may include an amendment in the CGST Act 2017 to empower government to implement track and trace mechanism put a check on evasion prone commodities.
Annual report of Directorate General of GST Intelligence for 2023-24 has noted five top evasion prone good(s) as iron, copper, scrap and alloys, pan masala, tobacco, cigarette and bidi, plywood, timber and paper, electronic items and marble, granite and tiles. However, officials say the proposed amendment is likely to focus more on tobacco-related products.
The proposed amendment is based on recommendation by GST Council in its meeting last month. “To insert an enabling provision in the CGST Act, 2017, through Section 148A so as to empower the government to enforce the Track and Trace Mechanism for specified evasion prone commodities,” the recommendation stated. Further, the system will be based on a ‘unique identification marking’ which shall be affixed on the said goods.
“This will provide a legal framework for developing such a system and will help in implementation of mechanism for tracing specified commodities throughout the supply chain,” the recommendation added.
