No tax officer authorised to check GST rollout: govt

Businessmen, wholesalers and retailers should not fear any raid or inspection by taxmen to check the implementation of the Good and Services Tax (GST), as none have been authorised as yet, the government said on Saturday.

No officer is authorised to visit the premises of the traders and shopkeepers without authorisation, said a statement, issued by the finance ministry.

It has been reported in a certain section of media that some unscrupulous elements posing as GST officers have tried to fleece the shopkeepers and customers in the name of GST, the statement said.

“It is, hereby, clarified by the Office of the Chief Commissioner of GST (Delhi Zone) that the department only wants to facilitate the shopkeepers and traders during the transition period. No officer of the department is authorised to visit the premises of the traders and shopkeepers without authorisation. In case of any difficulty, complain at Phone no. 011-23370115, Central Revenue Building, I. P. Estate, New Delhi,” it said.

The businesses and traders have time of three months to adapt to the new GST system. After which, the government has plans to depute key officials across cities and small towns to identify businessmen, wholesalers and retailers violating the anti-profiteering rule that is an important feature of the GST rollout.

A day ago, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched a mobile app ‘GST Rates Finder’, which is now available on the android platform and will soon be available on iOS platform as well.  

This mobile app helps users find rates of GST for various goods and services. It can be downloaded on any smartphone, and can work on offline mode, once downloaded. The user can determine the GST rate for a good or a service by entering the name or chapter heading of the commodity or service.

The search result will list all the goods and services containing the name, which was typed in the search box.

The user can scroll down the list of description, and when any specific item on the list is clicked, the display window will pop up, containing details, such as GST rate, description of goods or services, and the chapter heading of the Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN).

For example, an official release said, any person who has been billed by a hotel or a restaurant or for footwear can cross verify the correctness of the rate of GST charged.