Centre plans faceless CGST administration for businesses, rollout in FY28: Sitharaman

The Centre plans to introduce faceless Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) administration for taxpayers operating under multiple tax jurisdictions, with implementation targeted for the financial year 2027-28, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Thursday.

The Centre plans to introduce faceless Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) administration for taxpayers operating under multiple tax jurisdictions, with implementation targeted for the financial year 2027-28, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Thursday. Addressing a press conference following the 57th GST Council meeting, Sitharaman said the initiative would simplify tax administration for businesses dealing with multiple CGST authorities across states.

"Going forward, we intend to bring a centralized tax administration for these multiple CGST jurisdiction tax payers," she said. The proposed framework will provide a unified window for scrutiny of returns, audits, adjudication, appeals, taxpayer services and grievance redressal, reducing the need for businesses to deal with different tax authorities.

According to Sitharaman, around 69.5 lakh taxpayers fall exclusively under CGST jurisdiction, of whom approximately 2 lakh operate under multiple CGST jurisdictions within or across states. "For these taxpayers, we intend to introduce faceless tax administration, CGST," she said.

The Finance Minister said the proposal draws on the experience of faceless administration under the income tax system. "A framework will be finalized and put up for public consultation before the budget next year and will be implemented during the next financial year 27-28," Sitharaman said.

She clarified that the initiative was a separate Central Government announcement and not part of the GST Council's agenda. The announcement comes as the government seeks to simplify GST compliance, reduce administrative hurdles and improve ease of doing business following last year's rate rationalisation.

Meanwhile, the GST Council deferred a final decision on protecting genuine buyers from losing input tax credit (ITC) due to defaults by suppliers elsewhere in the supply chain. Sitharaman said taxpayers currently face difficulties even when they possess valid invoices, have received goods and have paid their suppliers, if another supplier in the chain fails to comply with GST requirements.

"Why should an honest payer be put to difficulty and made to wait till such a time everyone in the supply chain comes out clean?" she said, highlighting the concerns raised by businesses. The Council decided to refer the issue to a committee of officers following concerns raised by some states.

Sitharaman said the committee would submit its report within three months, after which the matter would return to the Council for a final decision, with implementation targeted from April 1, 2027. (ANI)