CBIC weighs centralised GST registration under one PAN

New Delhi: The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has set up a high-level working group to examine a proposal for centralised administration of GST taxpayers with multiple registrations under the same Permanent Account Number (PAN) across different central tax jurisdictions, in a move aimed at improving ease of doing business.

The proposal seeks to address a longstanding industry demand by examining whether businesses operating across multiple states can be administered by a single central GST authority instead of dealing with multiple field formations for different GST registrations.

The 11-member panel, headed by chief commissioner Vinayak Chandra Gupta, will examine the legal, administrative and technology changes needed to implement such a framework.

It will also study the erstwhile centralised registration and Large Taxpayer Unit (LTU) mechanism under the excise and service tax regime, review international practices, and recommend whether the proposed framework should be optional or mandatory.

The panel has been asked to submit its report, along with a detailed implementation roadmap and draft proposals, within 30 days, indicating that the government is moving quickly on a reform that has been under discussion for several years.

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Industry experts said the move could significantly reduce compliance costs and administrative complexity for companies with a pan-India presence.

"Moving to a centralised administration for GST taxpayers having operations in multiple states would be a significant step in reducing GST compliance and audit challenges faced by them," said MS Mani, partner, Deloitte India.

Service providers, who had the facility of centralised registration until 2017, would particularly benefit from the move, he added.

Before the introduction of GST, service providers with operations across India could opt for centralised registration, allowing them to deal with a single tax office.

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The facility was discontinued after GST was rolled out in July 2017, requiring businesses to obtain separate GST registrations in every state where they operate and deal with multiple tax authorities for audits, investigations and assessments.

Industry has repeatedly urged the government to revive a centralised administrative framework, arguing that multiple audits and overlapping compliance requirements increase costs without improving tax administration.