With almost two years into implementation of the GST, the system is going to be more stringent and competent with regard to tax evasion as numerous complaints of tax evasion in different B2B segments are being received by the department. The wood panel industry is also under their scanner due to be marked as an unorganized trade. The government is aiming on anti - evasion measures to shore up revenue and increase compliance and the council has formed two officers' committees, one to look into the feasibility of introducing e - invoice system and the other to streamline generation of invoices and easing compliance burden. The committee will finalize an interim report by July.
According to the media reports, the GST officials are developing a system for the businesses above a certain turnover which will have to generate 'e-invoice' on government or GST portal for their every sales, in the same way the E - way bill is being generated.The officials of the concerned departments say that there are many complaints received regularly against small business entities dealing in various goods and articles including wood panel, hardware, sanitary ware, furniture, electrical goods etc. They have received several complaints with regard to charging of GST by entities who have not been filing returns as well. As the number of complaints is very large, the tax department is developing a mechanism to find out the quantum of possible tax evasion and refer them to field offices for follow - up actions, according to the sources.
In the new system after implementation, the businesses would be provided a software which will be linked to GSTN or a government portal for generating e-invoice. They will get a unique number for every electronic invoice generated which can be matched in the sales return and taxes paid. The proposed system of e-invoice will eventually replace the requirement of generation of e-way bill for movement of goods, as invoices would be generated through a GSTN.
Currently, e-way bill is required for moving goods exceeding Rs 50,000. The official further said that once full e-tax invoice starts getting generated, it would significantly ease burden of return filing by businesses as invoice wise data would be auto-populated in the return forms. “The newly formed committees have to study global models especially in the countries like Latin America, South Korea and Europe. They will also look at ways to incentivise businesses to adopt the method of e-invoice generation,” the official said.
There are over 1.21 crore registered businesses under the GST, of which 20 lakh are under composition scheme. For 2019-20, the government proposes to collect Rs 6.10 lakh crore from Central GST and Rs 1.01 lakh crore as compensation scheme. The Central GST collection in 2018-19 fiscal was Rs 4.25 lakh crore, while compensation cess was over Rs 97,000 crore.