Field offices should be one-stop solution for GST payers: CBEC

NEW DELHI: To facilitate a smooth GST regime, the government has asked field offices of CBEC to turn into "one-stop solution" for taxpayer's needs by hand-holding them to meet compliance requirements.

India ushered in Goods and Services Tax on July 1 which unifies 17 different taxes. It transforms India's USD 2 trillion economy and 1.3 billion consumers into a single market.

Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has written to chief commissioners to devote substantial time to ensure that all field formations continue to assist taxpayers.

The CBEC had last week asked all its field offices to set up GST Sewa Kendras to provide all assistance to taxpayers.

"Chief commissioners should ensure that these Sewa Kendras are a one-stop solution for taxpayer's needs. Taxpayers may be helped through such Sewa Kendras by not only giving clarifications on doubts but also by assisting and hand-holding the needful taxpayers in their compliance requirements such as registrations, returns, etc," CBEC member S Ramesh said in the letter.

He said with the rollout of GST, a new era in indirect tax administration has been ushered in. "The next important step is to hand-hold the taxpayers and other stakeholders into this new regime."

GST Network, the company providing IT backbone for the GST, has started call centre service for taxpayers for answering queries on enrolment.

To help businesses, the GST awareness campaign must continue in full swing in the coming days and training of officers and staff should be stepped up.

"It is imperative that chief commissioners conduct more such awareness campaigns and workshops in the ensuing months so as to address the knowledge deficit that is there at present among the taxpayers about the new regime and the compliance requirements expected of them," the letter said.