The State Taxes Department (STD) has sought details of payments made by various government departments to the contractors since the promulgation of GST Act in the State to ensure compliance of the filing of monthly GSTR-3B returns.“State Taxes Department has sought information regarding payments made to the contractors for executing work contracts by various DDOs of government departments from 8.07.2017, the date from which the Goods and Services Tax Act was promulgated in the State,” said Mohammad Shahid Saleem, Additional Commissioner, State Taxes (Administration & Enforcement), Jammu.He said the action has been initiated after it came to surface during data analysis of the payments made by the government departments to the contractors against various works that the return filing under the GST was not up to the mark. He said all the contractors who have received payments from the government departments had to mandatorily file monthly GSTR-3B returns under the GST regime.“Due to default on part of the contractors huge amount of tax due to the State has been held back causing huge loss to the state exchequer,” he said and added that letters have been sent to all the Deputy Commissioners, Heads of Departments and Chief Engineers to provide details of the payments made to the contractors on work contracts since 8 July 2017 so that action is initiated under Section-76 of the J&K State Goods & Services Tax Act-2017 against defaulting contractors who have not filed GSTR-3B returns.
Meanwhile, continuing with its drive against GSTR-3B non-filers, the State Taxes Department has intensified its drive in various districts. Acting on strict directions of the Principal Secretary Finance, Navin K Choudhary, a team of the officers of the State Taxes Department comprising State Taxes Officer, Abdul Rehman, Inspectors Mohammad Yusuf and Pervaiz Wani under overall supervision of Mohammad Shahid Saleem, Additional Commissioner, State Taxes (Administration & Enforcement), Jammu conducted a series of inspections in the twin districts/circles of Rajouri and Poonch.The tax payers whose premises were inspected include M/s Bali Sweet Shop Rajouri, M/s National Steel Trading Company Rajouri, Ganga Tiles Rajouri, M/s Anpurana Provisional Store Rajouri, M/s Fancy Industry Rajouri, M/s Ehsah Hardware Industry Rajouri, M/s International Gate & Grills, M/s Jai Ji Traders Jawahar Nagar Rajouri, M/s Peer Panjal Saria and Cement Store Rajouri, M/s Sain Marble Poonch, M/s Asian Builders Poonch, M/s Asian Marble & Tiles Poonch, M/s Raina Cement and Saria Store Thannamandi and M/s Hablas E-Commerce Pvt Ltd Mendhar.The traders were directed on spot to clear their tax liability within 7 days failing which action under Section-67 of GST Act shall be initiated against them. During inspections tax evasion was detected and tax/penalty to the tune of Rs 6.16 lakhs was also imposed and recovered under different sections of the GST.