Support honest taxpayers: Sitharaman to GST officers

Ghaziabad: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday credited GST reforms for "euphoric buying and selling" during the festive season while urging officials to make life simpler for honest taxpayers, without sparing the dishonest.Inaugurating the new Central GST building here, FM also announced that starting Nov 1, a simplified GST registration process will be implemented for two categories of taxpayers, with approvals to be granted within three working days. "This single reform is expected to benefit 96% of the new applicants. Task of the field formation is to operationalise it without friction," she said.Addressing "operational pain points", the minister urged tax officials to shun the pre-GST mindset and support honest taxpayers.

"It is important that you remain polite. The next-generation GST is not just about rates, slabs and simplification. It should make the taxpayer feel different," she said, but cautioned that politeness should not be seen as a compromise on enforcement."The motto for disciplinary matters, therefore, should be galat kiya hai toh khair nahi, sahi kiya toh koi bair nahi (you won't be spared if you've done something wrong, you have nothing to fear if you haven't)," added Sitharaman.

The comments come in the backdrop of the recent controversy over customs officials in Chennai seeking bribe to clear consignments, which prompted the finance ministry to order an enquiry and came with an assurance that the guilty, including intermediaries, will not be spared.Asking field officers to use technology for faster registration approvals and grievance redressal, FM also tasked them to "proactively" undertake trade facilitation measures.

"There is no iron wall between you and the trader, there is thin air. You can understand where the difficulty is, rather than muddying it up any further."She also underlined the need for timely conclusion of disciplinary proceedings against officers and said by doing so the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) would send a clear message that misconduct, dereliction of duty or unethical behaviour will not be tolerated.