Kudos to CBIC for instructions on GST investigations

For issue of summons, prior approval of an officer not below rank of assistant/deputy commissioner must be obtained and relevancy and propriety of information/documents being sought must be recorded

In a welcome move, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has issued guidelines to its Goods and Services Tax (GST) field formations for maintaining ease of doing business while engaging in investigation with regular taxpayers. Essentially, its instruction no. 01/2023-24-GST (Inv.) dated March 30, 2024, places the power of initiating investigations at a very senior level and directs seeking any information or documents not available digitally/online from the GST portal from regular taxpayer through letters (instead of summons), disclosing specific nature of enquiry/investigation in the communications to the taxpayer, and conclusion of investigations within one year.

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