SERIES II No. 12

PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY

RNI No. GOAENG/2002/6410

Reg. No. RNP/GOA/32/2021-2023

Panaji, 28th June, 2023 (Asadha 7, 1945)

Suggestions are welcomed on e-mail: [email protected]

317

EXTRAORDINARY

No. 3

GOVERNMENT OF GOA

Department of Finance

Office of the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes

No. CCT/26-2/Instructions/2022-23/916

Sub.: Guidelines for processing of applications for

registration—regarding.

Instructions

[Issued u/s. 168 of the Goa Goods and Services

Tax Act, 2017 (Goa Act 4 of 2017)]

In exercise of the powers conferred under Section

168 of the Goa Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

(Goa Act 4 of 2017), (hereinafter referred to as “Act”)

and for the purpose of uniformity in the

implementation of the Act, I, the undersigned

Commissioner of State Tax, do hereby issue the

following Instructions corresponding to Instruction

No. 03/2023-GST issued by GST Policy Wing, Central

Board Indirect Taxes & Customs regarding

processing the applications for registration under

the Act as under.

1. Instances have come to notice regarding

unscrupulous elements obtaining fake/bogus

registration under GST and defrauding the

Government exchequer. Such fake/non-genuine

registrations are being used to fraudulently pass on

input tax credit to unscrupulous recipients by

issuing invoices without any underlying supply of

goods or services or both. This menace of fake

registrations and issuance of bogus invoices for

passing of fake ITC has become a serious problem,

wherein fraudulent people engage in dubious and

complex transactions, causing revenue loss to the

Government.

2. Various modus operandi of obtaining such fake

registrations have been detected by Central and

State Tax administrations. In some cases, identities

of other persons like PAN, Aadhaar, etc. have been

misused without their knowledge to obtain GST

registration. Forged documents, such as forged

electricity bills, property tax receipts, rent

agreements, etc. are also being used as proof of

principal place of business to obtain GST

registration. In some cases, forged identities have

been created by using same photo of a person on

different Aadhaar cards under different names. In

one of the cases detected recently, it has been found

that a few fraudsters have obtained fake GST

registrations on the basis of PAN and Aadhaar

number of persons from economically weaker

sections by fraudulently modifying the phone

number on the Aadhaar cards of these persons by

taking these persons to the Aadhaar Seva Kendra

by giving a nominal cash amount under guise of a

Government scheme and getting their Aadhaar

Cards linked to dummy mobile numbers by using

their thumb impression.

3. To address this problem of fake registration

and fake input tax credit, Guidelines No. EIU/

Sp.Drive/2023-24/426 dated 10-05-2023 has been

issued for concerted and co-ordinated action on a

mission mode by State Tax Authorities in the form

of a Special All-India Drive against fake registrations.

OFFICIAL GAZETTE — GOVT. OF GOA

SERIES II No. 12

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318

4. In this context, it is further felt that verification

of applications for registration by the proper officers

is one of the most crucial steps in the direction of

preventing the menace of fake or bogus

registrations. While numerous initiatives have been/

/are being undertaken on the policy and systems

level, it is pertinent to strengthen the process of

scrutiny and verification of such applications for

registration at the end of tax officers.

5. Accordingly, the following guidelines are

issued for strengthening the process of verification

of applications for registration at the end of tax

officers in a uniform manner.

5.1 Immediately on receipt of the application

for the registration in the Task List of the

concerned officer in GST Back Office System,

the officer shall initiate the process of scrutiny

and verification of the details filled by the

applicant in the application for registration in

FORM GST REG–01 and the documents

uploaded by the applicant along with the said

application.

5.2 FORM GST REG–01 prescribes a list of

documents to be uploaded by the applicant in

respect of photograph, constitution of business,

principal place of business, bank account, etc.

The proper officer shall carefully scrutinize the

said documents to ensure that the documents

are legible, complete and relevant. Further, the

details or information furnished by the applicant

in the application should also be carefully

examined by the proper officer to check

completeness of the same, to correlate and

crossverify the same with the uploaded

documents and to check the authencity of the

applicant. The details of the address of principal

and additional places of business and the

corresponding documents uploaded with the

application as proof of address shall be closely

scrutinised to verify completeness and

correctness of address of such places of business.

Further, to the extent possible, the authenticity

of the documents furnished as proof of address

shall be cross-verified from the publicly available

sources, such as websites of the concerned

authorities such as land registry, electricity

distribution companies, municipalities, and local

bodies, etc.

5.3 In order to facilitate targeted approach in

verification and processing of registration

applications, the Directorate General of

Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM), in

co-ordination with GSTN, is conducting risk

rating of the applications for registration in form

of High, Medium and Low risk rating for each

application for registration (ARN), based on data

analytics and risk parameters, and making the

same available to the Officers in the GST Back

Office System on regular bases. Accordingly, the

proper officer shall check the said risk rating

made available in respect of the concerned ARN

and take the same into consideration while

verifying and processing the said application.

Special attention needs to be paid to the cases

where “High” risk rating has been assigned to

an ARN.

5.4 The proper officer shall also check as to

whether the registration(s) has been obtained

on the same PAN earlier, either within the same

State or other State(s). In such cases, the status

of the said PAN as well as the compliance record

of the said GSTINs shall also be checked from

the portal. The proper officer shall also give due

consideration and special attention to the cases

involving inter alia the following circumstances:

(i) where any registration obtained on the

PAN of the applicant has been cancelled

previously;

(ii) where any registration obtained on the

PAN of the applicant is suspended at the

time of verification of a new application of

registration;

(iii) whether any application for registration on

the PAN of the applicant has been rejected

previously;

(iv) whether the place of business of the

applicant appears to be risky based on local

risk parameters;

(v) whether the proof of address of place(s) of

business prima facie appear to be

suspicious/doubtful on the basis of scrutiny

of the application and the documents.

5.5 Where the application is found to be

deficient, either in terms of any information or

any requisite document or where the proper

officer requires any clarification with regard to

any information provided in the application or

documents furnished therewith or in respect of

any other fact, he shall issue a notice to the

applicant electronically in FORM GST REG-03

within the prescribed time limit.

5.6 Without prejudice to the facts of the case,

the proper officer shall seek clarification or

information or document(s) inter alia in the

following cases:

(i) where any document is incomplete or not

legible, the proper officer shall seek

complete or legible copy of the same.

OFFICIAL GAZETTE — GOVT. OF GOA

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319

(ii) where the address of place of business does

not match with the document uploaded by

the applicant, or where such uploaded

document does not appear to be a valid

proof of the address of the said place of

business, the proper officer shall seek

additional documents to confirm the

address details.

(iii) where the address of place of business is

incomplete or vague, the proper officer shall

seek complete and unambiguous details of

the address along with the corresponding

documentary proof.

(iv) where any GSTIN linked to the PAN of the

applicant is found cancelled or suspended,

the proper officer shall seek clarification or

reasons for the same from the applicant, if

required.

5.7 The proper officer shall carefully examine

the clarification, information or documents

furnished by the applicant in FORM GST REG-04

in response to the notice issued in FORM GST

REG-03. Where the proper officer is satisfied with

the reply furnished by the applicant in FORM

GST REG-04, he shall approve the grant of

registration to the applicant within the

prescribed time period. However, where the

proper officer is not satisfied with the

clarification, information or documents furnished,

he may, for reasons to be recorded in writing,

reject such application and inform the applicant

electronically in FORM GST REG-05 within the

prescribed time period. Besides, where no reply

is furnished by the applicant in response to the

notice issued under in FORM GST–03, within

the prescribed time period, the proper officer

may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, reject

such application and inform the applicant

electronically in FORM GST REG-05.

5.8 The proper officer must ensure that the

said notice in FORM GST REG–03, wherever

required, is issued electronically within a period

of seven working days from the date of

submission of the application in cases where

the applicant has undergone authentication of

Aadhaar number and within a period of thirty

days in cases specified in proviso to sub-rule (1)

of Rule 9 of the Goa Goods and Services Tax

Rules, 2017 (hereinafter referred to as “Goa GST

Rules”).

5.9 Where the applicant has either failed to

undergo authentication of Aadhaar number or

has not opted for authentication of Aadhaar

number, the proper officer shall immediately

initiate the process for physical verification of

the place of business in accordance with

provisions of Rule 9 of Goa GST Rules read with

Rule 25 thereof.

5.10 In this regard, the concerned officer must

also ensure that the physical verification report

along with the other documents, including

photographs, is uploaded on the system in

FORM GST REG-30 sufficiently in advance of

the prescribed time limit.

5.11 Further, even in cases where the

applicant has undergone authentication of

Aadhaar number, if the proper officer, based on

the scrutiny of the application for registration

and the uploaded documents, is of the opinion

that physical verification of the place of

business is essential to check the authenticity

of the applicant, the proper officer shall get

such physical verification conducted in a time

bound manner. Till the time a functionality for

marking an application of registration for

physical verification in Aadhaar authenticated

cases is made available on the GST Back Office

System, the concerned Centralized Registration

Unit (CRU) officer may, where ever considered

essential, get physical verification of the place

business

conducted

through

the

jurisdictional officers of the concerned Ward

Office. For this purpose, till the time a

functionality is available on the GST Back Office

System, the concerned Ward Offices shall devise

a suitable mechanism at their level so as to

ensure that physical verification is conducted

in a timely manner in respect of such essential

cases and the concerned applications for

registration are disposed of within the time limit

prescribed in Rule 9 of Goa GST Rules, 2017.

6. While processing the applications for

registration, including in those cases where

physical verification is to be conducted, it will be

ensured by the proper officer that the application is

either rejected or accepted or relevant query is

raised within the prescribed time limit and no

application for grant of registration is approved on

deemed basis for want of timely action on the part

of tax officers. Strict view will be taken where any

gross negligence is observed on part of the

concerned officer(s).

7. Further, where ever the registration is granted

on deemed approval basis or where registration is

granted by the proper officer in cases covered under

the parameters referred in para 5.4 as well in cases

where “High” risk rating has been assigned to an

application for registration (ARN) and where

physical verification of the place of business was

OFFICIAL GAZETTE — GOVT. OF GOA

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28TH JUNE, 2023

320

not conducted before grant of such registration, the

CRU officer shall communicate the details of such

cases to the concerned Ward Office immediately

after registration and physical verification of the

place of business shall be got conducted by the

concerned Ward Office within 15 days of such

registration, in the manner prescribed in Rule 25 of

Goa GST Rules. Besides, the concerned Ward Office

shall get such physical verification of the place of

business got conducted in other cases also, where

ever required, based inter alia on various risk

parameters and risk ratings as per tools available in

BIFA or as per reports provided by GSTN, so as to

verify authenticity of such registrations. Wherever

the registered person is found to be non-existent or

fictitious, subsequent remedial action(s) shall be

taken without any delay.

8. The Deputy Commissioner incharge of the CRU

shall closely supervise the status of processing of

the applications of registration and Deputy

Commissioner (posted at ward office) shall closely

supervise the physical verifications, within their

ward offices. Wherever it is noticed that the

application for registration has been granted

deemed approval, the reasons for the same shall be

got examined by the Deputy Commissioner (posted

at ward office) for taking subsequent remedial

action if any, within a period of 6 months. Also, it is

directed to monitor the new registrations closely at

ward level to inspect the return filing compliances

for atleast first 6 months.

9. Difficulties, if any, in implementation of these

instructions may be informed to the undersigned.

S. S. Gill, IAS, Commissioner (State Taxes).

Panaji, 28th June, 2023.

——————

Department of Home

Home—General Division

–––

Order

No. 25/4/2023-Conf Powers/Bye Election/V. P./HD(G)/1749

In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 20(1) of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (Central Act

2 of 1974), the Government of Goa is pleased to grant powers of Executive Magistrate to the below

mentioned officers appointed as Sector Officers and Flying Squad to maintain law and order situation

during the Bye Election to Ward No. V of Village Panchayat St. Estevam, Tiswadi and Ward No. VII of Village

Panchayat Parcem, Pernem of North Goa District till election process is over.

SECTOR OFFICERS

Sr.

Name, designation, office address

Name of

Taluka

No.

& contact No.

Village Panchayat

Shri Prakash G. Raut, ZAO,

V. P. Parcem (Ward No. VII)

Pernem.

O/o. ZAO, Pernem-Goa

M-9823528363

Shri Chetan Chodankar, Junior Engineer,

V. P. St. Estevam (Ward No. V)

Tiswadi.

SD-I, Panaji-Goa

FLYING SQUAD

Sr.

Name, designation, office address

Name of

Taluka

No.

& contact No.

Village Panchayat

Shri Krishna Gadekar, JE, O/o.

BDO, Pernem-Goa

M-923191757

Shri Sandeep Morajkar, Technical Assistant,

V. P. Parcem (Ward No. VII)

Pernem.

O/o. Assistant Engineer, SD-Div. XVII,

PWD(PHE-N), Pernem-Goa

(M-9168694756)

OFFICIAL GAZETTE — GOVT. OF GOA

SERIES II No. 12

(EXTRAORDINARY No. 3)

28TH JUNE, 2023

321

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Mahatma Gandhi Road, Panaji-Goa 403 001.

PRICE–Rs. 5.00

PRINTED AT THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING PRESS, PANAJI-GOA—118/80—06/2023.

Shri Satyawan Naik, Junior Engineer,

O/o. Assistant Engineer, Water Resources

V. P. Parcem (Ward No. VII)

Pernem.

Department, Pernem-Goa

(M-9764935909)

Shri Damodar Tari, Assistant Engineer,

Vigilance, O/o. CEE, Electricity Department,

Panaji-Goa

V. P. St. Estevam (Ward No. V)

Tiswadi.

Shri Agnelo Rodrigues, Assistant Engineer,

Sub-Div-II (MRT), Div-VIII (MRT), Margao

By order and in the name of the Governor of Goa.

Diksha N. Tari, Under Secretary (Home-II).

Porvorim, 28th June, 2023.