The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), through Instruction No. 04/2024-GST on October 4, 2024, has announced systemic revisions to ease the mapping and de-mapping of officers on the GSTN portal.
This initiative aims to enhance the efficiency of GST administration, ensuring that officers are precisely mapped to their respective jurisdictions, thereby decreasing errors in tax assessments, audits, and other compliance-corresponding functions.
The instructions objective is regularly updating officer information to avert mismatches directed to delays in GST processing adjudications. It was stressed by CBIC that any amendments in officer postings should immediately shown on the portal to prevent disruption in the workflow.
The same measure is anticipated to rectify the coordination between the assessees and GST authorities which ensures a facilitated compliance procedure and quicker dispute resolution.
Also, the instruction mentioned that the wrong mapping of officers has caused issues in notices, assessments, and audits, previously leading to delays in solving tax disputes. CBIC through addressing such challenges has the motive to make the GST administration more clear and responsive.
The DGoV of CBIC in New Delhi has sent a reference stating that a GST officer remained mapped in the GSTN portal without immediate de-mapping after being relieved from their position, which led to fraudulent GST refund sanctions by the officer.
In this context, DGoV (Hqrs) has proposed specific systemic enhancements, including the recommendation that officers be promptly de-mapped from the relevant field formation on the GSTN portal following the completion of the GFR-33.
DGoV (Hqrs) concerning that has recommended certain systemic improvement interalia suggesting that officers must be de-mapped from the related field formation, on the GSTN portal on the implementation of the GFR-33.
Also, it is been recommended by DGoV that it might be tracked via supervisory officers, preferably of the rank of Joint Commissioner / Additional Commissioner, and a compliance report in this concern may be sent to the jurisdictional Commissioner / Principal Commissioner or equivalent within a specified period.
It is also requested to ensure that clear responsibility and accountability are established for the jurisdictional officers in charge of mapping and un-mapping officers on the GSTN portal.
In the above said it is asked that all Principal Commissioners/ Commissioners or equivalent, might be asked to confirm the strict compliance of the directions furnished via the Directorate General of Vigilance (DGoV) towards the same.
