The Directorate General of Audit - Indirect Taxes (the
Directorate General) has chalked out a comprehensive audit plan for
audits to be conducted by the departmental officers based on the
â€Ürisk scoresâ€" of taxpayers. The
â€Ürisk scoresâ€" will be generated
based on a â€ÜRisk Assessment
Programâ€" developed by the Directorate General.
Key features of the audit plan have been highlighted in this
alert.
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Annual turnover and risk flag indicators
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The taxpayers would be first given â€Ürisk
scoresâ€" based on various parameters. Later, they
will be segregated in three categories –
- Large (Annual turnover above INR 400 million),
- Medium (Annual turnover between 100/75 million to 400/300 million) and
- Small (Annual turnover below 100/75 million).
The turnover for this purpose will include taxable, exempt, and
zero-rated supplies. The final list of taxpayers would include
â€Ürisk flag indicatorsâ€" based on
which the â€Ürisk scoresâ€" have
been derived.
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A Large number of taxpayers to be audited
Each audit commissionerate will be provided with a list of 80% taxpayers out of which 70% of the taxpayers have to be audited. Another 10% of taxpayers have to be selected randomly for audit by the audit commissionerates. Another 20% of the taxpayers have to be selected by the audit commissionerates based on local risk factors, after obtaining approval from jurisdictional Chief Commissioners. Examples of local risk parameters that will be considered are as follows:
- Delay in providing documents sought by the audit team
- Quantum of turnover/profits/loss/refunds/exemptions
- Quantum of mistakes detected by the department
- Involvement in legal disputes
- Inconsistency in filing returns
- High-risk sectors (e.g., chemicals, retail, apartment rentals, hotels, spare part for vehicles, etc.)
- The taxpayer involved in the supply of goods on which GST rate has been reduced (examining compliance with anti-profiteering)
- Taxpayer not audited in the pre-GST era for 4-5 years etc.
The number of businesses to be audited by the department in key jurisdictions have been encapsulated in the table below:
Commissionerate | No of audits | ||
Large | Medium | Small | |
Mumbai | 1296 | 1350 | 1494 |
Delhi | 864 | 900 | 996 |
Bengaluru | 396 | 450 | 498 |
Audit procedure
The notice of audit is to be issued by the proper officer in
FORM GST ADT-01. On conclusion of audit, the proper officer has to
inform his findings in FORM GST ADT-02. The said forms would have
to be issued manually by the proper officer till they become
available on the GST common portal.
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The audit of the large and medium taxpayers will be
conducted at the premises of such taxpayers. The audit of small
taxpayers will also be premise-based if any inherent weakness is
identified in the internal control systems.
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The procedure for conducting the audit would be based on the GST
Audit Manual issued by the Directorate General.
SKP's Comments
The preparation of a detailed plan of departmental audit, even before the annual return (GSTR-9) and audit (GSTR-9C) are filed for 2017-18, is an indication of the departmentâ€"s proactive approach towards conducting an audit of taxpayers. The financial year 2017-18, being the first year of implementation of GST, is expected that businesses may have made some inadvertent errors at the time of adopting positions or filing returns. Businesses should ensure that they identify and rectify these errors at the time of filing GSTR-9 to avoid any demand for tax, interest, and penalty at the time of the departmental audit.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.