Goods and Services Tax Alert

Summons not to be issued to Managing Director, CEO, CFOs of companies routinely
By the recent Guidelines for issuance of summons under Section 70 of the CGST Act – Instruction 03/2022- 23 [GST-Investigation], indiscriminate issuance of summons has been discouraged, and officers have been advised to issue summons judiciously. Other methods such as a letter for requisition of information instead of summons for obtaining information or collecting evidence have been encouraged. Summons are to be issued only after obtaining prior written approval from an officer not below the rank of Deputy/ Assistant Commissioner, with reasons recorded on the Summons. An understanding is to be given to the recipient of summon, whether he is an accused, co-accused or a witness. To rule out any harassment to taxpayers, it is advised that issuance of summons may be avoided for statutory documents, which are digitally available on the GST portal. Issuance of summons to Senior management officials such as CMD/MD/CEO/CFO is discouraged, except if there are clear indications of their involvement in the decision making process which led to loss of revenue.