The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs ...

22 August 2022 CBIC issued guidelines on 'Issuance of Summons under Section 70 of the CGST Act, 2017' The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued detailed instructions (Instruction no. 03/2022-23 dated 17 August 2022) to address the problem faced by the taxpayers on account of excessive use of power to issue summons by field authorities and to ensure that such power is exercised judiciously and with due consideration. Some of the relevant guidelines are as follows: Superintendents should issue summons only after getting written approval from an officer, not below the rank of Deputy Commissioner/Assistant Commissioner and recording the reasons for the same in writing. Where summons are issued, the officer should keep a record on file about the appearance/non-appearance of the summoned person. Summons should indicate the name of the offender unless the same is detrimental to the cause of investigation. This is done to provide an understanding to the recipient of summon as to whether he is being summoned as an accused, co-accused, or witness. Issuance of summons may be avoided in the case of statutory documents which are readily available on the GST portal. Senior management officials such as CMD/MD/CEO/CFO/ similar officers should be summoned only when there are clear indications of their involvement. Generation and quoting of Document Identification Number (DIN) is mandatory. The summoning officer himself should be present at the date and time decided and in case of any exigency, the summoned person should be informed in advance. Repeated issuance of summons without ensuring service of summoning must be avoided. In case the summoned person doesn't join the investigation even after three summons issued at reasonable intervals, a complaint should be filed with the Jurisdictional Magistrate under the Indian Penal Code. Our Comments The above guidelines will prevent the unnecessary harassment faced by the taxpayers, where the top senior officials of the companies are summoned in a routine manner to call for statutory records (even though they are available on the portal, in some cases). The guidelines emphasize the need to use summons judiciously and instead of resorting to alternative modes like a 'letter of requisition of information,' etc. Such shift and control regarding using the power of issuing the summons with due consideration of the summoned person's sensitivity will go a long way in ensuring the ease of doing business. Nexdigm  ThinkNext@nexdigm.com | www.nexdigm.com USA | Canada | Poland | UAE | India | Hong Kong | Japan DISCLAIMER This alert contains general information which is provided on an "as is" basis without warranties of any kind, express or implied and is not intended to address any particular situation. The information contained herein may not be comprehensive and should not be construed as specific advice or opinion. This alert should not be substituted for any professional advice or service, and it should not be acted or relied upon or used as a basis for any decision or action that may affect you or your business. It is also expressly clarified that this alert is not intended to be a form of solicitation or invitation or advertisement to create any adviser-client relationship. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this alert, the same cannot be guaranteed. We accept no liability or responsibility to any person for any loss or damage incurred by relying on the information contained in this alert. © 2022 Nexdigm. All rights reserved.