CAG Urges Telangana GST Dept. to Follow up on Show Cause Notices for Tax Defaults

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India sought the Telangana Commercial Taxes department to pursue the SCN issued for short/non-payment of tax and the same must contain Integrated Goods and Services Tax(IGST) element along with State GST/ Central GST components.

The council is required to pursue the inconsistencies and deviations mentioned in the audit for which the answers would have not furnished and intimate the consequence to the audit. The council would required to regard the start of validation controls in GST returns to curb the errors of data entry, improve the assesses compliance, and streamline effective investigation, the CAG expressed in the Revenue Sector report 2021-22 tabled in the State Assembly.

A sample of 407 cases from among the top deviations/inconsistencies in each of the 14 parameters for the year 2017-18 amounting to ₹14,536.5 crore has been chosen by the CAG. The audit check in such matters was confined to verifying the measure of the department on the identified deviations/mismatches. Initial replies were yet to be obtained as of April 2023 for 124 inconsistencies conveyed to the department, which describe a risk exposure of ₹1,568.81 crore.

CAG says after considering outgo for off-budget borrowings the net public debt available to Telangana was negative in 2022-23. For example, a test check of the records of 40 offices of the Commercial Taxes department associated with VAT, CST, and Goods and Services Taxes (GST) discovered tax assessments and other peculiarities comprising Rs 149.41 crore in different classes.

Taking into account that the whole rate of conversion of peculiarities into compliance deviations is influential as drawn, the council ought to increase the verification of such matters as a preference.

Read Also: Companies Seek More Clarification from Telangana State GST Dept.

The CAG advised that stringent controls must be established to ensure timely tax return filing by taxpayers and to collect penalties and interest for overdue payments. The department should take action to address all compliance deviation cases before they become time-barred, and review all other cases to identify and address similar deviations. Steps should be taken to enhance monitoring in field formations and ensure that proper procedures are followed for cancellation, issuance of show cause notices, and recovery, with due diligence.

As per the report, the department admitted to the absence of an Internal Audit unit, and it advocated for the Government to create an Internal Audit wing in the Commissionerate to scrutinize and enhance the Commercial Tax Department’s performance.