Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday urged the business community to proactively and regularly engage with GST officials, encouraging open dialogue to find synergistic solutions to their concerns.
Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and its officers these days are “speedily addressing” problems of assessees (trade), Sitharaman said after inaugurating the GST Bhawan at Udaipur in Rajasthan.
Sitharaman wanted the business community and trade representatives to regularly visit the GST commissionerate, stressing the need to move away from a culture of approaching GST officers only when there is a problem.
Sectoral outreach
On the part of CBIC and its officers, Sitharaman underscored the need for them to conduct sectoral outreach to proactively clear the doubts of assessees so that these don’t later turn into full-blown grievances.
“At a time when you (traders and business community) are making rapid strides in your sphere of work, you should not have any doubts on GST,” she noted.
Sitharaman advised the GST officials to focus on soft implementation of GST law, with stringent measures only as a last resort.
Sitharaman also acknowledged the economic significance of the Udaipur Commissionerate as it operates in a hub where commodities such as zinc, lead, silver, cement, fertilizer, and tyres are produced.
She commended the completion of significant project (GST Bhawan) within budget (actual construction cost of about ₹ 33 crore as against budget allocation of ₹ 42 crore) and time schedule despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She underlined the government’s commitment since 2019 to enhance infrastructure for GST Zones and the commissionerates across the country.
On the occasion, Sitharaman also launched ICETAB 2.0, a handheld device for customs operations, and expressed hope that it will help in uploading real-time examination reports and in quicker clearance of cargoes.
Sanjay Agarwal, Chairman, CBIC informed that the CGST Udaipur building is modern, energy efficient and compliant with Government of India’s norms for green buildings.