Automated return scrutiny rolled out

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs has launched the automated return scrutiny model for goods and services tax returns this week.

The non-intrusive means of compliance verification has been rolled out in the ACES-GST back-end application for central tax officers. “This module will enable the officers to carry out scrutiny of GST returns of Centre administered taxpayers selected on the basis of data analytics and risks identified by the system,” said a finance ministry statement on Thursday.

In the module, discrepancies on account of risks associated with a return are displayed to the tax officers. They are then provided with a workflow for interacting with taxpayers through the GSTN Common Portal for communication of discrepancies and subsequent action such as issuance of an order of acceptance of reply or issuance of show cause notice or initiation of audit or investigation.

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Implementation of this automated return scrutiny module has commenced with the scrutiny of GST returns for FY 2019-20, and the requisite data for the purpose has already been made available on the officers’ dashboard.

During a recent review of the performance of the CBIC, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had directed that the automated return scrutiny module for GST returns should be rolled out at the earliest.