Now, revenue service officers question 'haste' in GST roll-out
Hundreds of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officers today red-flagged the "haste" in the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the country.
Around 300 officers of Indian Revenue Service (Customs and Central Excise) across the country and representing states units held a meeting here and is understood to have resolved to take up the matter with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeking his immediate intervention, sources said.
The IRS officers expressed concern over some of the decisions taken by the GST Council headed by Jaitley and demanded that those are taken back, they said.
The meeting was attended by Central Board of Excise and Customs Chairman Najib Shah.
The IRS association, which has about 3,500 members chosen through the prestigious civil services exam, will soon announce its future course of action to press for its demand, sources said.
The meet assumes significance as another association of central revenue employees has raised similar objections and threatened to take legal recourse in case their concerns are not addressed. It had also termed as "illegal" certain decisions taken by the GST Council and demanded that those be corrected.
The Council in its meeting on January 16, had agreed to give states the power to levy tax on economic activity within 12 nautical miles of territorial waters.
Also, it was decided that the states will have the power to assess and administer 90% of the tax payers under Rs 1.5 crore annual turnover, while the remaining would be controlled by the Centre.
The All India Association of Group B Central Excise Gazetted Executive Officers, which claims support of about 50,000 employees working with the CBEC, has in a letter sent to Jaitley recently opposed these decisions by the GST Council.
Their views have now been supported by IRS officers, manning senior posts relating to indirect taxes revenue collection in the country.
The GST is likely to be rolled out from July 1, as against April 1 decided earlier by the government.