Deselection from Audit under section 65: removal of selected registered persons from GST audit for specified periods.
The Commissioner, State Tax deselected nine registered persons from audit under section 65 of the West Bengal GST Act for the specified assessment periods, effective from 1 July 2023. The administrative order cites reasons for each deselection in an annexure-including investigations by other authorities, insolvency proceedings, non existence, premises sealed, cancellation of registration, and seizure of books-thereby removing those persons from the section 65 audit process for the periods stated.

Extension of compliance deadline specified upto 30th September 2023 replacing prior three month phrase in corrigendum.
Corrigendum amends Order No. 02/WBGST/PRO/2023 by substituting the phrase describing a further three month extension with an explicit timeline, specifying the extension is upto the 30th day of September, 2023, thereby clarifying the operative deadline in the opening paragraph.

Extension of audit completion period under section 65 grants additional time where audits stalled by system glitches.
The Commissioner extended, under the proviso to sub-section (4) of section 65 of the West Bengal GST Act, the time for completion of audits for the period Apr 2018-Mar 2019 which commenced within 31 May 2023; having found delays caused by GSTN system glitches, the Commissioner granted a further three-month extension from the statutory due date, excluding cases already separately extended, effective immediately.

GST registration through registered rent deed requirement tightened to curb fake invoices and fraudulent input tax credit.
GST registration in Assam is to be granted only when the applicant furnishes a valid rent agreement or lease deed duly registered with the Sub-Registrar or other competent authority. This requirement is intended to prevent registration based on forged or unreliable documents, including unregistered rental agreements, and to curb fake invoices, fraudulent input tax credit, and loss of government revenue. Registering authorities are directed to follow this requirement strictly and refuse registration where the supporting rental or lease document is not duly registered.

GST registration functions are centrally assigned to designated officers, creating jurisdiction throughout the relevant territorial area.
Registration functions under sections 25 to 27 of the Delhi Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 are assigned to Assistant Commissioners and GST Officers posted in the Centralized GST Registration Cell, known as Seva Kendra. The officers perform the registration-related functions of a Proper Officer throughout the National Capital Territory of Delhi, subject to the continuing registration arrangement and partial modification of the territorial-jurisdiction framework.

GST registration processing requires risk-based verification, prescribed timelines, centralised allocation, and monitoring to prevent non-genuine registrations.
GST registration applications are centrally processed by Seva Kendra, which handles only fresh applications and transfers post-registration matters to jurisdictional officers. Aadhaar-authenticated applications are ordinarily processed within seven working days, while non-authenticated, risk-flagged, or physically verified applications are processed within thirty days. Deficiency notices are issued in FORM GST REG-03 and answered in FORM GST REG-04; non-response or unsatisfactory clarification may lead to rejection with recorded reasons. Proper officers must scrutinise prior registrations, cancellations, tax liabilities and business genuineness. Physical verification may examine premises, business capability, ownership records, identity documents and tax records.

Verification of GST registrations strengthened: risk based scrutiny, document authentication, and mandatory physical verification where necessary.
Officers must promptly scrutinize FORM GST REG 01 and uploaded documents for legibility, completeness and authenticity, cross verify addresses and identity proofs with public sources, and consult DGARM/GSTN risk ratings to apply heightened scrutiny to high risk ARNs and PANs with adverse registration histories; deficiencies must be addressed by electronic notice (FORM GST REG 03), responses examined (FORM GST REG 04), and unsatisfactory or absent replies lead to rejection (FORM GST REG 05). Physical verification is required where Aadhaar authentication is absent or where officers deem it necessary, and registrations granted on deemed approval or in high risk cases must be physically verified without delay.

Deemed approvals in GST registrations expose fraud; strengthen transfer, Aadhaar verification and supervisory reporting to prevent bogus GSTINs.
Deemed approvals and deficient transfer and verification procedures have permitted fraudulent GST registrations. The circular requires transfers of applications within two days with written and telephonic intimation to specified officers, forbids forwarding to disbanded circles/LTUs or retaining new STU registrations, and mandates verification where Aadhaar authentication details mismatch or where prior registrations on the same PAN were cancelled for fraud. It imposes monthly proforma reporting, six month transaction monitoring of new registrants, field verification after deemed approvals, and supervisory review with disciplinary consequences for non compliance.

Maintenance of Call Book pauses adjudication where identical issues are pending on appeal, requiring supervisory transfer and notice.
Maintenance of a call book is required to defer adjudication of Show Cause Notices where identical issues are pending on appeal or where injunctions stay decision-making; SCNs under Sections 73(1) and 74(1) must be transferred with supervisory approval and taxpayers notified. Cases are to be restored to adjudication when controlling grounds cease or appellate decisions attain finality without further approval. Offices must keep a prescribed call book format, update it, and submit to monthly supervisory review, with each file verified rather than relying on statistical abstracts.

Audit Monitoring Committee procedures require deliberation of draft audit reports before issuing final audit reports under GST compliance.
Prescribes that after verification the Audit Division shall prepare a Draft Audit Report (DAR) recording observations, legal provisions and revenue impact and circulate it to zonal, jurisdictional and taxpayer-service officers within specified short timelines. The DAR is forwarded to Audit Headquarters, reviewed by taxpayer services, and deliberated in a monthly Audit Monitoring Committee (AMC) chaired by the Additional Commissioner (Audit). The AMC will assess sustainability of observations, direct further examination if required, and its decisions on settlement of audit objections are final. Minutes must be circulated within seven working days, after which the Deputy Commissioner finalizes the Final Audit Report (FAR) and serves it in FORM GST ADT-02 on the common portal.

Revocation of Registration Cancellation: Extended applications within the prescribed period follow zonal procedure for processing.
Revocation of cancellation of GST registration applications filed after 60 days but within 90 days from service of the cancellation order are governed by a revised procedure. The applicable procedure must be followed, with necessary adaptations, by the designated Special Commissioner-II for Zones 1 to 12. The earlier corrigendum on this procedural provision is superseded, while all other conditions for extension of the application time limit remain unchanged.

GST Audit Reforms require visit audits for high-yield taxpayers and standardized monitoring to improve tax compliance.
The circular mandates strengthening GST audit by directing Visit Audit for Top and high-yield taxpayers, establishing Thematic Audit planning through state and divisional coordination, constituting an Audit Monitoring Committee in each DGSTO to vet initial audit objections and standardise practices, and prescribing mandatory use of analytics and specified annexures/formats for case-wise and consolidated audit and adjudication reporting to enable centralized monitoring and performance review.

Registration cancellation revocation applications within the extended filing period follow designated zonal standard operating procedures.
Revocation of cancellation of registration applications filed beyond 60 days but within 90 days from service of the cancellation order are governed by the extended revocation procedure. The prescribed standard operating procedure applies mutatis mutandis. Special Commissioner-I is responsible for Zones 1 to 6 and Special Commissioner-II for Zones 7 to 12. All other conditions governing revocation of cancellation of registration remain unchanged.

RFN and REN verification facility introduced for offline taxpayer correspondence and authentication of GST communications.
Taxpayers' notices, orders and other communications generated through the GST portal ordinarily bear a system-generated DIN or RFN, and taxpayers may view such documents on their dashboard and verify authenticity through the RFN facility. For communications that are not system-generated but still need to be sent to taxpayers, the State tax authority may generate a REN through the BO web portal under the RFN generation module, and the resulting reference number is to be mentioned in the letter issued to the taxpayer. Taxpayers may verify the generated REN both before login and after login using the verification facility.

Inspection-based adjudication assigns cases to officers according to revenue effect, with consolidated transfer for multi-year inspections.
Inspection-based adjudication under Section 67 of the TNGST Act, 2017 is allocated according to the revenue effect in the show-cause notice. Cases exceeding Rs. five crore are assigned to an Assistant Commissioner (State Tax), while cases up to Rs. five crore are assigned to a State Tax Officer. For multi-year inspections, where any one financial year exceeds Rs. five crore, all years must be transferred together to an Assistant Commissioner; otherwise, the case is transferred to a State Tax Officer.

No Due Certificate verification requires current returns, settled liabilities, system-generated reference numbers, and timely reasoned responses for tender applicants.
No Due Certificates for contractors participating in tenders require verification of GST and legacy-tax compliance, including return filing, tax and interest payments, annual returns, unstayed arrears, and liabilities under other registrations using the same PAN. Certificates must be issued in the prescribed format with a system-generated Reference Number; certificates lacking that reference are invalid. Deficiencies require a reasoned rejection, and issuance or rejection must be completed promptly under supervisory monitoring.

Adjudication allocation: mid-value show cause matters to jurisdictional taxpayer services; joint commissioner may assign cases to adjudication deputies.
Adjudications under sections 73 and 74 within the prescribed mid-range shall be finalised by the jurisdictional Deputy Commissioner, Taxpayer Services; the Joint Commissioner of Taxpayer Services will determine and formally allocate additional matters to Deputy Commissioner (Adjudication) posts in specified districts considering pendency and pecuniary limits, and must intimate affected taxpayers of any reassignment.

Generation of RFN for offline tax communications enables taxpayers to verify document authenticity on the GST portal.
RFN must be generated for all physically issued communications (notices, adjournments, orders, reminders) via the GST Back Office RFN Generation facility, superscribed on the document, and enabling pre- and post-login verification of document authenticity on the GST Common Portal; officers must follow the prescribed generation steps and comply strictly, with the guidance characterised as procedural and not for statutory interpretation.

Special investigation campaign on pan spices and tobacco transport to curb tax evasion through bogus registrations and e way misuse.
Campaign directs targeted vehicle checks and intelligence led verification of e way bills for pan spices, tobacco, related raw materials and packing materials following a shift of cess liability to Maximum Retail Price (MRP). It mandates statewide transit inspections, continued regular enforcement, interagency notification for counterfeit or food safety incidents, and daily zonal reporting to the Sachal Dal section with details of traders, GSTIN, goods, e way bill verifications, evasion modes and taxes/fines.

Annual return requirements clarified: GSTR-9 scrutiny must reflect historical audit and ITC matching law, not post-amendment rules.
For annual returns of FY 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20, scrutiny must follow the pre-amendment UPGST/CGST regime: where the audit obligation and accompanying audited accounts and reconciliation statement applied, those were to be filed; assessment units must not raise objections or demand records inconsistent with the law as it stood for those years, must not issue GSTR-9C-related queries to taxpayers for whom it did not apply or who opted not to file GSTR-9, must not invoke matching/reversal provisions where no ITC was claimed, and must not seek TRAN-1/TRAN-2 evidence where those forms were not filed.