CGST Circular 31/2018
| Circular Number | 31/2018 |
| Circular Date | 09-02-2018 |
| Download | |
To,
The Principal Chief Commissioners/Chief Commissioners/Principal Commissioners/
Commissioners of Central Tax / Commissioners of Central Tax (Audit)/ Principal Director
General of Goods and Services Tax Investigation/ Director General of Systems
Madam/Sir,
Subject: Proper officer under sections 73 and 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax
Act, 2017 and under the [Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017]({igst}00–reg.
1) The Board, vide Circular No. 1/1/2017-GST dated 26th June, 2017, assigned proper
officers for provisions relating to registration and composition levy under the Central Goods
and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as the “CGST Act”) and the rules made
thereunder. Further, vide Circular No. 3/3/2017 – GST dated 5th July, 2017, the proper
officers for provisions other than registration and composition under the CGST Act were
assigned. In the latter Circular, the Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Central Tax was
assigned as the proper officer under sub-sections (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), (9) and (10) of
section 74 while the Superintendent of Central Tax was assigned as the proper officer under
sub-sections (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), (9) and (10) of section 73 of the CGST Act.2) It has now been decided by the Board that Superintendents of Central Tax shall also
be empowered to issue show cause notices and orders under section 74 of the CGST Act.
Accordingly, the following entry is hereby being added to the item at Sl. No. 4 of the Table
on page number 3 of Circular No. 3/3/2017-GST dated 5th July, 2017, namely:-
| Sl.No. | Designation of the officer | Functions under Section of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 or the rules made thereunder |
|---|---|---|
| (1) | (2) | (3) |
| 4. | Superintendent of Central Tax | viii(a). Sub-sections (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), (9) and (10) of Section 74 |
3) Further, in light of sub-section (2) of section 5 of the CGST Act, whereby an officer
of central tax may exercise the powers and discharge the duties conferred or imposed under
the CGST Act on any other officer of central tax who is subordinate to him, the following
entry is hereby removed from the Table on page number 2 of Circular No. 3/3/2017-GST
dated 5th July, 2017:-
| Sl.No | Designation of the officer | Functions under Section of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 or the rules made thereunder |
|---|---|---|
| (1) | (2) | (3) |
| 3. | Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Central Tax |
vi. Sub-sections (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), (9) and (10) of Section 74 |
4) In other words, all officers up to the rank of Additional/Joint Commissioner of Central
Tax are assigned as the proper officer for issuance of show cause notices and orders under subsections
(1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), (9) and (10) of sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act. Further,
they are so assigned under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 (hereinafter
referred to as the “IGST Act”) as well, as per section 3 read with section 20 of the said Act.5) Whereas, for optimal distribution of work relating to the issuance of show cause notices
and orders under sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act and also under the IGST Act, monetary
limits for different levels of officers of central tax need to be prescribed. Therefore, in
pursuance of clause (91) of section 2 of the CGST Act read with section 20 of the IGST Act,
the Board hereby assigns the officers mentioned in Column (2) of the Table below, the
functions as the proper officers in relation to issue of show cause notices and orders under
sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act and section 20 of the IGST Act (read with sections 73
and 74 of the CGST Act), up to the monetary limits as mentioned in columns (3), (4) and (5)
respectively of the Table below:-
Table
| Sl.No. | Officer of Central Tax | Monetary limit of the amount of central tax (including cess) not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded or input tax credit of central tax wrongly availed or utilized for issuance of show cause notices and passing of orders under sections 73 and 74 of CGST Act |
Monetary limit of the amount of integrated tax (including cess) not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded or input tax credit of integrated tax wrongly availed or utilized for issuance of show cause notices and passing of orders under sections 73 and 74 of CGST Act made applicable to matters in relation to integrated tax vide section 20 of the IGST Act |
Monetary limit of the amount of central tax and integrated tax (including cess) not paid or short paid or erroneously refunded or input tax credit of central tax and integrated tax wrongly availed or utilized for issuance of show cause notices and passing of orders under sections 73 and 74 of CGST Act made applicable to integrated tax vide section 20 of the IGST Act |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (1) | (2) | (3) | (4) | (5) |
| 1. | Superintendent of Central Tax | Not exceeding Rupees 10 lakhs | Not exceeding Rupees 20 lakhs | Not exceeding Rupees 20 lakhs |
| 2. | Deputy or Assistant Commissioner of Central Tax | Above Rupees 10 lakhs and not exceeding Rupees 1 crore | Above Rupees 20 lakhs and not exceeding Rupees 2 crores | Above Rupees 20 lakhs and not exceeding Rupees 2 crores |
| 3. | Additional or Joint Commissioner of Central Tax | Above Rupees 1 crore without any limit | Above Rupees 2 crores without any limit | Above Rupees 2 crores without any limit |
6) The central tax officers of Audit Commissionerates and Directorate General of Goods
and Services Tax Intelligence (hereinafter referred to as “DGGSTI”) shall exercise the
powers only to issue show cause notices. A show cause notice issued by them shall be
adjudicated by the competent central tax officer of the Executive Commissionerate in whose
jurisdiction the noticee is registered. In case there are more than one noticees mentioned in the show cause notice having their principal places of business falling in multiple
Commissionerates, the show cause notice shall be adjudicated by the competent central tax
officer in whose jurisdiction, the principal place of business of the noticee from whom the
highest demand of central tax and/or integrated tax (including cess) has been made falls.7) Notwithstanding anything contained in para 6 above, a show cause notice issued by
DGGSTI in which the principal places of business of the noticees fall in multiple
Commissionerates and where the central tax and/or integrated tax (including cess) involved is
more than Rs. 5 crores shall be adjudicated by an officer of the rank of Additional
Director/Additional Commissioner (as assigned by the Board), who shall not be on the
strength of DGGSTI and working there at the time of adjudication. Cases of similar nature
may also be assigned to such an officer.8) In case show cause notices have been issued on similar issues to a noticee(s) and
made answerable to different levels of adjudicating authorities within a Commissionerate,
such show cause notices should be adjudicated by the adjudicating authority competent to
decide the case involving the highest amount of central tax and/or integrated tax (including
cess).9) It is requested that suitable trade notices may be issued to publicize the contents of
this circular.10) Difficulty, if any, in implementation of the above instructions may please be brought
to the notice of the Board. Hindi version would follow.