Govt likely to remove penal offences covered under IPC from GST Law

In order to make the GST Act more taxpayer-friendly, the government intends to remove the criminal offences now covered by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) from its scope, according to an official.

The suggestion would be part of the effort to decriminalise GST law and is anticipated to be discussed at the upcoming GST Council meeting.

The Finance Ministry will put forth the proposed changes to the GST law once it has received the GST Council’s main recommendations. The next month’s winter session of Parliament may include a discussion of this.

The official claims that the GST Act Statute committee has approved the revisions to Section 132 as part of the effort to decriminalise the law.

The source stated that the same offences covered by the Indian Penal Code would no longer be included in the GST statute.

The GST Council would be asked to approve the revisions. After that, it would be sent to Parliament for modifications to be made to the GST Act.

States would be required to modify their state GST rules after the plan is approved by the Parliament.

The decriminalisation process may include offences like predominantly fraudulent billing, according to tax specialists. Additionally, the same may apply to the issuance of invoices or bills without a supply of goods as well as the provision of goods, services, or both without proper invoicing.

The use of false invoices to obtain an input tax credit (ITC) may also fall under one of the IPC’s listed offences.

Once approved by Parliament, states would be required to amend their state GST laws.