CBIC working on faceless assessment pilot for CGST taxpayers

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is working on a centralised, faceless assessment system for taxpayers registered under the central GST jurisdiction, with a pilot likely to be launched in the next few months, a finance ministry source said.

Under the proposed system, tax notices, hearings and orders would be handled through a single national platform instead of individual tax formations.

"We are working on a kind of faceless assessment for taxpayers registered under Central GST (CGST) jurisdiction. It would be similar to faceless assessment system. A pilot on this is likely to be launched in a few months," the source said.

Initially, CGST-registered taxpayers across different states are expected to be brought under the system. States could later decide whether to extend a similar mechanism to taxpayers registered under State GST (SGST), the source said.

The CBIC is currently working on the design of the proposed system, under which a taxpayer operating in multiple states but falling under the CGST administration could deal with one centralised platform rather than separate tax offices.

"The work is at the design stage, and it is the direction in which central administration of this tax is moving," the source said.

Under the Goods and Services Tax regime, taxpayers are divided between Central and State tax administrations based on a formula decided by the GST Council to ensure a single interface for taxpayers.

Administrative control over 90 per cent of taxpayers with turnover below Rs 1.5 crore rests with the state tax administration, while the remaining 10 per cent is with the central tax administration.

For taxpayers with turnover above Rs 1.5 crore, the taxpayers are divided equally between the Central and State tax administrations.

The proposed faceless assessment mechanism would seek to centralise the process for taxpayers falling under the CGST jurisdiction, including the issuance of notices, conduct of hearings and passing of assessment orders.