Page 54 - GSTL_27th August 2020_Vol 39_Part 4

J110 GST LAW TIMES [ Vol. 39
“The conclusion was that whichever State wants to implement it intra-
State, then it should implement it. We were agreeable on this point that if a par-
ticular State wants to have an E-way Bill for gold, then it can be allowed for intra-
State,” Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said.
The Group of Ministers (GoM) on movement of gold and precious
stones, which was formed in November, 2019 and is headed by Kerala’s Finance
Minister Thomas Isaac, met on 13-8-2020 to discuss the issues related to the fea-
sibility of E-way Bill for transportation of gold and precious stones. It will place
its report in the GST Council.
Modi also suggested an e-invoicing system for gold. “Some other mech-
anism to stop tax evasion has to be considered. It should be worked out. It was
decided to further study the e-invoice proposal and it would be discussed fur-
ther,” Modi said.
Also, it was proposed that concerns over smuggled gold which then gets
sold as old gold could be resolved by levying a Reverse Charge on the purchase
of old gold, which would create the liability of payment of tax on the buyer than
the seller.
It is learnt that Kerala and Karnataka wanted E-way Bill for inter-State
movement of goods, but Gujarat and Bihar felt it was not practical and feasible.
Gujarat also raised the issue of security and secrecy of the data on transportation
of gold, to which an assurance was provided that the necessary changes in the
rules would be made to allow only designated officers to deal with the data, an
official said.
Under GST, E-way Bills are required for inter-State transportation of
goods valued over ` 50,000. However, gold is exempted. Currently, E-way Bills
have a validity of one day for every 100 km.
[Based on The Economic Times, New Delhi, dated 15-8-2020]

Why a taxpayers’ charter is a non-starter
Last week, the Government announced a taxpayers’ charter, which lists
the rights of assessees under the Income-Tax (I-T) Act. The charter is a bunch of
promises, full of homily-like vision statements such as : Provide prompt, courte-
ous, and professional assistance; treat taxpayers as honest; provide a mechanism
for appeal; provide complete and accurate information; provide timely decisions;
collect the correct amount of tax; respect the privacy of the taxpayer; follow due
the process of law and be no more intrusive than necessary; hold various author-
ities accountable; provide a complaint system, etc. How does all this square with
the reality on the ground?
Who believes this? “The tax terrorism prevailing in the country is dan-
gerous. One can’t run the Government by thinking that everyone is a thief.” That
is Narendra Modi to businessmen, in January, 2014, when he was not yet Prime
Minister. The moment he came to power, the Government started issuing strange
demand notices and changing tax laws to make them more draconian and - more
alarmingly - with retrospective effect. When people started complaining about
tax terrorism, (then) Finance Minister (FM) Arun Jaitley resorted to misdirection :
“The opposite of tax terror cannot be a tax haven.”

GST LAW TIMES  27th August 2020  54
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