Nellore: Repeat notifications over GST creates confusion for officials

Nellore: With a series of amendments and notifications almost on weekly basis to the GST Act, commercial tax officials are trying hard to understand and explain details to traders.

Notwithstanding 120 awareness programmes conducted by the commercial department in Nellore region, there is no clarity on the new tax system because of a chain of notifications.

In addition to this, bugs in the GST network software are also causing countless problems to both officials and traders.

Officials concerned feel that the government should have introduced the GST after the software and other aspects of the tax system were absolutely ready.

Sources in CT wing said their revenue was down by Rs 25 crore in Nellore division as against Rs 75 crore per month, going by the simple returns filed during past two months after the introduction of GST. Officers have been banking on the input credit from the transactions in other states to cover the revenue gap.

Meanwhile, it has become a free run for those involved in the illegal transportation of goods without bills from Chennai to Nellore and other coastal districts because of the closure of check posts at Tamil Nadu-AP border near Tada in Nellore district.

All integrated check posts along inter-state borders have been winded off after GST came into force. After sensing these illegal activities, tax officials posted teams to intercept lorries and check goods in the recent past.

The checks had yielded Rs 20-lakh revenue by way of fines and the major violators were granite companies, a senior official of commercial tax said.

He said traders would be fined heavily if they adopt illegal practices and omit the transactions in the returns since the software is designed to detect any fraud. They may have to pay double the tax and fine for omitting any transaction in the monthly returns, he added.