Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
North Block, New Delhi-110 001
Tel. : +91-11-23092849, Fax : +91-11-23092890
E-mail : vivekjohri.irs@gov.in
DO No. 14/(CH(IC)/2021 | Dated: 07th March 2022
Dear Colleague
The week gone by has been rather active for us. Ergo, this edition of the newsletter is going to be somewhat longer than usual. Happily so!
Last week, Hon’ble Union Minister of Finance 86 Corporate Affairs, laid the Foundation Stone of the National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes &, Narcotics (NACIN) Campus at Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh. Spread across 500 acres, the Academy strives to be self-reliant in energy and water and, perhaps in a first, not only be entirely carbon neutral but also to earn Carbon credits for the project. The academy will feature Field Training Centres, a Wildlife Laboratory, a Narcotics Laboratory, a Mock Airport, a Mock Port as well as Marine Training Centres et al. The Academy would be functional by September, 2023.
Moving ahead, in a significant step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat and with view to enhance the Ease of Doing Business, compliances required under the Customs (Import of Goods at Concessional Rate of Duty – IGCR) Rules, 2017 were eased. Further, a paperless and contactless end-to-end automation of the procedure was introduced on the 1st of March, 2022. Now all intimations for claiming end-use based exemptions can be submitted electronically. Transaction-based permissions and intimations have been done away with and instead of quarterly returns, a monthly electronic statement has been introduced for importers. An option for online payment of duties will also be enabled shortly.
On the Revenue front, the Gross GST Revenue collected for the month of February, 2022 stood in excess of Rs 1,33,000 Crore. GST collections crossed Rs 1.30 Lakh crore mark for the 5th time. My Congratulations to all the field formations for their consistent hard work. I hope that the last month of the financial year will see all of us continue to work with the same zeal and passion.
The uptick in GST revenue is also a testimony to cooperative federalism. In our endeavour to strengthen the tax base, in my letter dated 03.01.2022, I had mentioned about a coordinated action plan for revenue augmentation by constructively engaging with State GST authorities. In this regard, Zonal Members have been conducting joint meetings with Central and State GST Administrations. The meetings have provided a platform for synergizing efforts and for sharing best practices while laying a road map for a data and knowledge driven GST ecosystem. This initiative may be carried forward at other levels as well.
The week gone by, saw the latest addition to our fleet of drive-through container scanners in Chennai. With a throughput of one hundred containers per hour, the facility will go a long way in reducing dwell times while simultaneously ensuring security of our supply chains. Kudos to the officers of the Directorate of Logistics for their work on the project.
Last week, the Ministry of Home Affairs notified amendments to the Rules relating to Union Home Minister’s Special Operation Medal, to provide that in addition to police personnel, personnel of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) may also be considered for award under the area “Prevention of narcotics smuggling”.
The Special Operation Medal is awarded on successful conduct of special operations involving a high degree of planning and having a significant impact on security of large sections of the society. The amendment is reflective of the vital role played by our officers in preventing the smuggling of narcotics.
On the Anti-Evasion side, the week gone by saw the Ranchi CGST & Central Excise Zone, recover Rs. 175.81 Crore of Service Tax (Interest and Penalty) in a case of evasion of Service Tax on Commission received for managing Pension and Provident Funds. This was in addition to the recovery of Rs. 101.78 Crore Service Tax made earlier in October, 2021. Congratulations to the officers of the CGST & Central Excise, Ranchi Zone and for their hard work.
In another case, the officers of CGST & Central Excise, Delhi Zone detected a case of fraudulent availment and utilization of Input Tax Credit on fake invoices without actual supply of goods. An amount of about Rs. 15 Crore has been recovered in the case. My appreciation to the officers for their efforts.
Last week, a Circular relating to a toolkit for Anti-Evasion/Preventive Teams was issued. A local initiative taken by a field formation formed an important input in the issue of this Circular. This goes to show how local initiatives can lend themselves to bigger ideas. In this context, I would once again encourage officers to share their ideas and initiatives, big or small, on the Navachar email ID i.e. chairman-cbicoffice@gov.in.
At the end, I would like to share a laudable initiative taken by Commissioner (AR), CESTAT Ahmedabad for putting together a compendium highlighting the common legal errors/lacunae in Departmental appeals which hampers revenue interests before the appellate forums. Lower success ratio for the department in tax litigation has always been matter of concern. The topic wise compendium covers aspects from investigation to review and will serve to enrich the quality of Departmental Appeals. An electronic version is also available. My compliments to Dr. Jeetesh Nagori, Commissioner (AR), CESTAT Ahmedabad for the initiative.
Yours Sincerely,
(Vivek Johri)
All Officers and Staff of Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
