The Centre is set to pilot a faceless assessment system for businesses under the Central Goods and Services Tax regime, aiming to reduce compliance burdens and enhance efficiency across multiple jurisdictions.
The Centre is preparing to extend faceless assessment to businesses registered under the Central Goods and Services Tax regime, in a move designed to cut the number of direct dealings between taxpayers and tax officers and simplify compliance for large companies operating across multiple jurisdictions.
According to a finance ministry source cited by Business Standard, the plan would initially cover only CGST registrations and would not require GST Council approval because it would not be imposed on states. The same source said the government wants to test the system first and allow state administrations to adopt it later if the model proves effective. Reuters has not independently verified the timetable, but reporting from multiple Indian publications says a pilot could begin within months.
The change is intended to tackle a long-standing administrative problem for groups with operations spread across India. Under the GST framework, businesses usually need separate registrations in each state where they operate, and some large companies also hold multiple registrations within a single state. That can leave one enterprise facing notices, hearings and orders from different CGST offices at the same time, creating duplication and extra compliance burden. Officials quoted by Business Standard said there are about 6.5 million registrations under central tax administration, including roughly 330,000 that currently deal with more than one CGST jurisdiction.
The proposal borrows from the faceless systems already used in income tax and customs, where technology is used to reduce personal interaction and channel cases through a centralised process. The Economic Times reported that cases could be allocated using technology, including artificial intelligence and data analytics, while New Indian Express said the Centre wants to begin the process in a couple of months. Experts say the benefits could go beyond assessments and extend to registration, amendments, audits and refunds. M S Mani, a partner at Deloitte, told Business Standard that faceless interaction would “significantly benefit taxpayers” by reducing the time spent on compliance and allowing businesses to focus more on operations.
The finance ministry plans to place the framework out for public consultation after the architecture is finalised, with a goal of making it practical for businesses. Business Standard reported that officials hope to consult by December and, ideally, implement changes from the new financial year beginning April 1. If the rollout proceeds as planned, the move would mark another step towards a more centralised and less officer-dependent GST administration, even if a wider faceless regime for state taxes remains for later.
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