WB Trade Body Urges for Urgent Amnesty Scheme Resolve GST Conflicts

The Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations a Traders association has written to Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra asking for an amnesty scheme for Goods and service tax issues.

As per the council, the small businesses could not align with the revisions that the government made to the GST via distinct amendments in the acts and regulations and via developments on the GST portal directing to distinct matters being booked for non-compliance or late compliance without the purpose of fraud.

A one-time Vivad scheme may be permitted for cases where GST show-cause notices have been issued. We expect only 30 per cent of tax payments to be mandated and an exemption is provided for interest and penalty for 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20, the trade body expressed in a letter.

A letter stated that the mistake incurred in return filing is permitted for rectification and unclaimed credits u/s 16(4) must be authorized for all these years.

As per the trade body, minor differences in e-way bills must not draw penalties despite a 2018 circular that quotes instances of known/possible mistakes, penalties are being charged for clerical mistakes even in matters where there was no intent of fraud.

The traders have remarked on the instances where both SGST and CGST are resorting to enforcement measures on the identical problem and recommend that measures must be considered via merely one authority and the case must be uploaded in the system to prevent the next measure via the other authorities.

An identical amnesty scheme was issued by the finance ministry in 2020 to issue a resolution for due income tax litigations.