5 August 2022
Supreme Court orders States to implement DIN for all communications to assessees under GST

Background
  • Mr. Pradeep Goyal filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) for recourse to prevent abuse by the Departmental Officers of pre-dating communications and ratifying actions by authorizations subsequently made out in the files.
  • For larger public interest and to bring transparency and accountability to the indirect tax administration, a request was made to issue directions to the States to implement the Documentation Identification Number (DIN) system in indirect tax administration.
Order by Supreme Court
  • The Hon’ble Supreme Court has directed the GST Council to issue instructions/recommendations to respective States regarding the implementation of electronic generation of DIN for all communications to taxpayers.
  • At the same time, the Supreme Court has also impressed on the States to consider the recommendations of the GST Council and implement such a system for all communications sent by State Tax authorities.
Our Comments
  • In pursuance of directions issued by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to come up with specific measures to ensure that honest taxpayers are not harassed and served better, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) implemented the DIN system in 2019 and the same was also implemented by indirect tax authorities under Centre’s jurisdiction.
  • Having DIN on each document/communication issued by the government gives added authenticity to the document's source.
  • It brings transparency in all communications with the department, avoiding the receipt of fake notices and easy identification of such fake notices. It also helps create a proper audit trail of all the communications sent by the department.
  • The Supreme Court’s pragmatic order will also ensure that the DIN system is implemented by State Tax officers, adding to better indirect tax administration.
  • The state of Andhra Pradesh has already issued a direction to mandate DIN on all communications issued from 1 August 2022.
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