Handle honest taxpayers with a human face, Sitharaman urges GST officials

Aiming to make India’s tax regime more people-friendly, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday (October 24) said Goods and Services Tax (GST) officials should be polite and empathetic while dealing with honest taxpayers and told them to take help of technology for faster approvals of registration and redressal of grievances.

Speaking at the inauguration of the CGST building in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, she also advised field formations to take measures for trade facilitation “proactively”.

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“There is no iron wall between you and trader, there is thin air. You can understand where the difficulty is, rather than muddy it up any further,” Sitharaman said.

FM emphasises on strict disciplinary action

The finance minister also stressed on the timely conclusion of any disciplinary proceedings against officials of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). It would send a stern message of zero tolerance from the CBIC board on any misconduct, negligence of duty and unethical behaviour by officials.

She said the ultimate goal of tax administration is to make life easy for honest taxpayers and to do that, the GST officers should follow the laid down SoP and show greater empathy and courtesy.

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“It is important that you remain polite. The next-generation GST is not just about rates, slabs, simplification. It should make the taxpayer feel different,” she said, adding that politeness, however, should not be seen as a compromise on enforcement.

Her words came over a month since the Narendra Modi government undertook sweeping measures in reforming the GST which was first implemented in July 2017.

'Don't look at everybody with suspicion'

While advocating that honest taxpayers should be "honourably treated", Sitharaman also said that laid down SoP should be followed to bring the "bad sheep" to the books.

“But don't look at everybody with suspicion,” the minister said.

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“I do not want comfort given to dishonest taxpayers in any way. You do not have to be subjective with them (dishonest taxpayers), there is a laid protocol, deal with them in that way...be polite and get your work done as per the SoP", she said.

Urge to use technology

The minister also nudged the GST officers to make use of technology to reduce the compliance burden on taxpayer seeking GST registration.

“Technology and risk-based parameters must do the heavy lifting and not the taxpayer. We do not want anybody from the field formation adding one little more burden or onus on the taxpayer. Technology should be used. You do smart inquiry into the situation and if necessary the taxpayer may be approached for something. But no shifting of onus on him saying give me more papers, give me this, give me that,” she said.

Mapping grievances

She also asked officers to map the recurring grievances in Central GST (CGST) zones and reach at the “root cause” of the problem.

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On the issue of disciplinary proceedings against departmental officers, Sitharaman said swift conclusion of such proceedings reinforces accountability within the organisation. It also clears up the perception that public has that there is a level of indifference or protectionism which prevails among officers that weaken one's moral authority.

“The motto for disciplinary matters therefore should be: Galat kiya hai toh khair nahi, sahi kiya toh koi bhaye nahi (If you do wrong, you won't be forgiven, if you do right, you need not fear)," Sitharaman said.

She also said that the pending GST investigations must be closed expeditiously with quality orders that are well-reasoned, and evidence based and cut down litigation cost.

(With Agency inputs)