GST Offences and Penalties | GST
GST Offences and Penalties are covered under various provisions, as
Section 85. Offences and penalties
- Where a taxable person who –
- supplies any goods and/or services without issue of any invoice or issues an incorrect or false invoice with regard to any such supply;
- issues any invoice or bill without supply of goods and/or services in violation of the provisions of this Act, or the rules made thereunder;
- collects any amount as tax but fails to pay the same to the credit of the appropriate Government beyond a period of three months from the date on which such payment becomes due;
- collects any tax in contravention of the provisions of this Act but fails to pay the same to the credit of the appropriate Government beyond a period of three months from the date on which such payment becomes due;
- fails to deduct the tax in terms of sub-section (1) of section 46 , or deducts an amount which is less than the amount required to be deducted under the said sub-section, or where he fails to pay to the credit of the appropriate Government under sub-section (2) thereof, the amount deducted as tax;
- fails to collect tax in terms of sub-section Error! Reference source not found. of section 56 , or collects an amount which is less than the amount required to be collected under the said sub-section, or where he fails to pay to the credit of the appropriate Government under sub-section 0 thereof, the amount collected as tax;
- takes and/or utilizes input tax credit without actual receipt of goods and/or services either fully or partially, in violation of the provisions of this Act, or the rules made thereunder;
- fraudulently obtains refund of any CGST/SGST under this Act;
- takes or distributes input tax credit in violation of section 21, or the rules made thereunder;
- falsifies or substitutes financial records or produces fake accounts and/or documents or furnishes any false information or return with an intention to evade payment of tax due under this Act;
- is liable to be registered under this Act but fails to obtain registration;
- furnishes any false information with regard to registration particulars, either at the time of applying for registration, or subsequently;
- obstructs or prevents any officer in discharge of his duties under the Act;
- transports any taxable goods without the cover of documents as may be specified in this behalf;
- suppresses his turnover leading to evasion of tax under this Act;
- fails to keep, maintain or retain books of account and other documents in accordance with the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder;
- fails to furnish information and/or documents called for by a CGST/SGST officer in accordance with the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder or furnishes false information and/or documents during any proceedings under this Act;
- supplies, transports or stores any goods which he has reason to believe are liable to confiscation under this Act;
- issues any invoice or document by using the identification number of another taxable person;
- tampers with, or destroys any material evidence;
- disposes off or tampers with any goods that have been detained, seized, or attached under this Act;shall be liable to a penalty of ten thousand rupees or an amount equivalent to the tax evaded or the tax not deducted or short deducted or deducted but not paid to the Government or tax not collected under section 56 or short collected or collected but not paid to the Government or input tax credit availed of or passed on or distributed irregularly, or the refund claimed fraudulently, as the case may be, whichever is higher.
- Any registered taxable person who supplies any goods or services on which any tax has not been paid or short-paid or erroneously refunded, or where the input tax credit has been wrongly availed or utilized for any reason, other than the reason of fraud or any willful misstatement or suppression of facts to evade tax, shall be liable to a penalty of ten thousand rupees or ten percent of the tax due from such person, whichever is higher.
- Any person who
- aids or abets any of the offences specified in clauses (i) to (xxi) of sub-section (1) above;
- acquires possession of, or in any way concerns himself in transporting, removing, depositing, keeping, concealing, supplying, or purchasing or in any other manner deals with any goods which he knows or has reason to believe are liable to confiscation under this Act or the rules made thereunder;
- receives or is in any way concerned with the supply of, or in any other manner deals with any supply of services which he knows or has reason to believe are in contravention of any provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder;
- fails to appear before the CGST/SGST officer, when issued with a summon for appearance to give evidence or produce a document in an enquiry;
- fails to issue invoice in accordance with the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder, or fails to account for an invoice in his books of account; shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to twenty five thousand rupees.
Section 86. General penalty
Any person, who contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or any rules made thereunder for which no penalty is separately provided for in this Act, shall be liable to a penalty which may extend to twenty-five thousand rupees.
Section 87. General disciplines related to penalty
- No tax authority shall impose substantial penalties for minor breaches of tax regulations or procedural requirements. In particular, no penalty in respect of any omission or mistake in documentation which is easily rectifiable and obviously made without fraudulent intent or gross negligence shall be greater than necessary to serve merely as a warning.
Explanation.- For the purpose of this sub-section –
- a breach shall be considered a ‘minor breach’ if the amount of tax involved is less than five thousand rupees.
- an omission or mistake in documentation shall be considered to be easily rectifiable if the same is an error apparent on record.
- The penalty imposed shall depend on the facts and circumstances of the case and shall be commensurate with the degree and severity of the breach.
- No penalty shall be imposed on any taxable person without giving a notice to show cause and without giving the person a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
- The tax authority shall ensure that when a penalty is imposed in an order for a breach of the laws, regulations or procedural requirements, an explanation is provided therein to the persons upon whom the penalty is imposed, specifying the nature of the breach and the applicable law, regulation or procedure under which the amount or range of penalty for the breach has been prescribed.
- When a person voluntarily discloses to a tax authority the circumstances of a breach of the tax law, regulation or procedural requirement prior to the discovery of the breach by the tax authority, the tax authority may consider this fact as a potential mitigating factor when quantifying a penalty for that person.
- The provisions of this section shall not apply in such cases where the penalty prescribed under the Act is either a fixed sum or expressed as a fixed percentage.
Section 88. Power to impose penalty in certain cases
Where the proper officer is of the view that a person is liable to a penalty and the same is not covered under any proceeding under sections 59, 60, 61, 62, 66, 67, 89 or 90, he may issue an order levying such penalty after giving a notice and after giving a reasonable opportunity of being heard to such person.
Section 89. Detention, seizure and release of goods and conveyances in transit
- Where any person transports any goods or stores any goods while they are in transit in contravention of the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder, all such goods and the conveyance used as a means of transport for carrying the said goods and documents relating to such goods and conveyances shall be liable to detention or seizure and after detention or seizure, shall be released ,-
- on payment of the applicable tax and penalty equal to one hundred percent of the tax payable on such goods, where the owner of the goods comes forward for payment of such tax and penalty;
- on payment of the applicable tax and penalty equal to the fifty percent of the value of the goods reduced by the tax amount paid thereon, where the owner of the goods does not come forward for payment of such tax and penalty.
- the proper officer detaining or seizing goods and/or conveyances shall issue a notice specifying the tax payable and thereafter, pass an order for payment of tax and penalty under clause (a) or (b), as the case may be.
- On payment of the amount referred to in sub-section (1), all liabilities under this section shall stand discharged in respect of such goods and such conveyance.
- where the person transporting any goods or, as the case may be, the owner of the goods fails to pay the amount of tax and penalty as provided in sub-section (1) within seven days of such detention, further proceedings shall be initiated in terms of section 90 and provisions of sub-section (6) of section 79, shall apply mutatis mutandis for provisional release of the detained goods or conveyances.
PROVIDED that where the detained goods are perishable or hazardous in nature or are likely to depreciate in value with passage of time, the said period of seven days may be reduced by the proper officer.
Section 90. Confiscation of goods and/or conveyances and levy of penalty
- If any person –
- supplies or receives any goods in contravention of any of the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder with intent to evade payment of tax; or
- does not account for any goods on which he is liable to pay tax under this Act; or
- supplies any goods liable to tax under this Act without having applied for registration; or
- contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder with intent to evade payment of tax; or
- uses any conveyance as a means of transport for carriage of taxable goods in contravention of the provisions of this Act or rules made thereunder unless the owner of the conveyance proves that it was so used without the knowledge or connivance of the owner himself, his agent, if any, and the person in charge of the conveyance,then, all such goods and / or conveyance shall be liable to confiscation and the person shall be liable to penalty under section 85.
Whenever confiscation of any goods or conveyance is authorized by this Act, the CGST/SGST officer adjudging it shall give to the owner of the goods or, where such owner is not known, the person from whose possession or custody such goods have been seized or the owner or the person in-charge of the conveyance, an option to pay in lieu of confiscation such fine as the said officer thinks fit:
PROVIDED that such fine shall not exceed the market value of the goods confiscated, less the tax chargeable thereon:
PROVIDED FURTHER that the aggregate of such fine and penalty leviable shall not be less than the amount of penalty leviable under sub-section (1) of section 89:
PROVIDED ALSO that where any such conveyance is used for the carriage of the goods or passengers for hire, the owner of the conveyance shall be given an option to pay in lieu of the confiscation of the conveyance a fine equal to the tax payable on the goods being transported thereon.
- Where any fine in lieu of confiscation of goods or conveyance is imposed under sub-section (2), the owner of such goods or the person referred to in sub-section (1), shall, in addition, be liable to any tax and charges payable in respect of such goods.
- No order of confiscation of goods and/or conveyance and/or imposition of penalty shall be issued without serving a notice on such person requiring him to show cause and without giving the person a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
- Where any goods and/or conveyance are confiscated under this Act, the title of such goods and/or conveyance shall thereupon vest in the appropriate Government.
- The proper officer adjudging confiscation shall take and hold possession of the things confiscated and every Officer of Police, on the requisition of such proper officer, shall assist him in taking and holding such possession.
- The proper officer may, after satisfying himself that the confiscated goods and conveyance are not required in any other proceedings under this Act and after giving reasonable time not exceeding three months to pay fine in lieu of confiscation, dispose such goods and/or conveyances and deposit the sale proceeds thereof with the Government.
Section 91. Confiscation or penalty not to interfere with other punishments
No confiscation made or penalty imposed under the provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder shall prevent the infliction of any other punishment to which the person affected thereby is liable under the provisions of this Act or under any other law.
Section 92. Prosecution
- Whoever commits any of the following offences, namely—
- supplies any goods and/or services without issue of any invoice or grossly mis-declares the description of the supply on invoice, in violation of the provisions of this Act, to intentionally evade tax;
- issues any invoice or bill without supply of goods and/or services in violation of the provisions of this Act, or the rules made thereunder leading to wrongful availment of credit or refund of duty;
- collects any amount as tax but fails to pay the same to the credit of the appropriate Government beyond a period of three months from the date on which such payment becomes due;
- collects any tax in contravention of the provisions of this Act but fails to pay the same to the credit of the appropriate Government beyond a period of three months from the date on which such payment becomes due;
- takes and/or utilizes input tax credit without actual receipt of goods and/or services either fully or partially, in violation of the provisions of this Act, or the rules made thereunder;
- evades tax, fraudulently avails input tax credit or obtains refund by an offence not covered under clause (a) to (e);
- falsifies or substitutes financial records or produces fake accounts and/or documents or furnishes any false information with an intention to evade payment of tax due under this Act;
- obstructs or prevents any officer in the discharge of his duties under this Act;
- acquires possession of, or in any way concerns himself in transporting, removing, depositing, keeping, concealing, supplying, or purchasing or in any other manner deals with, any goods which he knows or has reason to believe are liable to confiscation under this Act or the rules made thereunder;
- receives or is in any way concerned with the supply of, or in any other manner deals with any supply of services which he knows or has reason to believe are in contravention of any provisions of this Act or the rules made thereunder;
- tampers with or destroys any material evidence or documents;
- fails to supply any information which he is required to supply under this Act or the rules made thereunder or (unless with a reasonable belief, the burden of proving which shall be upon him, that the information supplied by him is true) supplies false information; or
- attempts to commit, or abets the commission of, any of the offences mentioned in clauses (a) to (l) of this section; shall be punishable –
- in cases where the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilized or the amount of refund wrongly taken exceeds two hundred and fifty lakh rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine;
- in cases where the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilized or the amount of refund wrongly taken exceeds one hundred lakh rupees but does not exceed two hundred and fifty lakh rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine;
- in the case of any other offence where the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilized or the amount of refund wrongly taken exceeds fifty lakh rupees but does not exceed one hundred lakh rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year and with fine;
- in cases where he commits or abets in the commission of an offence specified in clause (h), (k) or (l), with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months and/or with fine;
- If any person convicted of an offence under this section is again convicted of an offence under this section, then, he shall be punishable for the second and for every subsequent offence with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine:
PROVIDED that in the absence of special and adequate reasons to the contrary to be recorded in the judgment of the Court, the imprisonment referred to in sub-sections (1) and (2) shall not be for a term of less than six months.
- Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974), all offences under this Act, except the offences referred to in sub-section (4) shall be non-cognizable.
- The offences specified in clause (a),(b),(c),(d) or (e) of sub-section (1) relating to taxable goods and/or services where the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or the amount of refund wrongly taken exceeds one hundred lakh rupees shall be cognizable and non-bailable.
Explanation: The Commissioner concerned shall be the competent authority to take cognizance of the offence.
- A person shall not be prosecuted for any offence under this section except with the previous sanction of the designated authority.
Section 93. Cognizance of offences
No Court shall take cognizance of any offence punishable except with the previous sanction of the designated authority, and no Court inferior to that of a Magistrate of the First Class, shall try any such offence.
Section 94. Presumption of culpable mental state
- In any prosecution for an offence under this Act which requires a culpable mental state on the part of the accused, the Court shall presume the existence of such mental state but it shall be a defence for the accused to prove the fact that he had no such mental state with respect to the act charged as an offence in that prosecution.
Explanation.— In this section, “culpable mental state” includes intention, motive, knowledge of a fact, and belief in, or reason to believe, a fact.
- For the purposes of this section, a fact is said to be proved only when the Court believes it to exist beyond reasonable doubt and not merely when its existence is established by a preponderance of probability.
Section 95. Relevancy of statements under certain circumstances
- A statement made and signed by a person before any gazetted officer of CGST/IGST/SGST during the course of any inquiry or proceeding under this Act shall be relevant, for the purpose of proving, in any prosecution for an offence under this Act, the truth of the facts which it contains,-
- when the person who made the statement is dead or cannot be found, or is incapable of giving evidence, or is kept out of the way by the adverse party, or whose presence cannot be obtained without an amount of delay or expense which, under the circumstances of the case, the Court considers unreasonable; or
- when the person who made the statement is examined as a witness in the case before the Court and the Court is of the opinion that, having regard to the circumstances of the case, the statement should be admitted in evidence in the interests of justice.
- The provisions of sub-section (1) shall, so far as may be, apply in relation to any proceeding under this Act, other than a proceeding before a Court, as they apply in relation to a proceeding before a Court.
Section 96. Offences by Companies and certain other persons
- Where an offence committed by a person under this Act is a company, every person who, at the time the offence was committed was in charge of, and was responsible to, the company for the conduct of business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
- Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where an offence under this Act has been committed by a company and it is proved that the offence has been committed with the consent or connivance of, or is attributable to any negligence on the part of, any director, manager, secretary or other officer of the company, such director, manager, secretary or other officer shall also be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
Explanation.- For the purposes of this section, –
- “company” means a body corporate and includes a firm or other association of individuals; and
- “director”, in relation to a firm, means a partner in the firm.
- Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a taxable person being a partnership firm or a Limited Liability Partnership or a Hindu Undivided Family or a trust, the partner or karta or managing trustee, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly and the provisions of sub-section (2) shall apply mutatis mutandis to such persons.
- Nothing contained in this section shall render any such person liable to any punishment provided in this Act, if he proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
Section 97. Compounding of offences
- Any offence under the Act may, either before or after the institution of prosecution, be compounded by the Competent Authority on payment, by the person accused of the offence, to the Central Government or the State Government, as the case be, of such compounding amount in such manner as may be prescribed:
PROVIDED that nothing contained in this section shall apply to –
- a person who has been allowed to compound once in respect of any of the offences described under clause (a) to (g) of sub-section (1) of section 92 and the offences described under clause (m) which are relatable to offences described under clause (a) to (g) of the said sub-section;
- a person who has been allowed to compound once in respect of any offence (other than those in clause (a)) under the Act or under the provisions of any other SGST Act or IGST Act in relation to supplies of value exceeding one crore rupees;
- a person who has been accused of committing an offence under the Act which is also an offence under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act,1985 (61 of 1985), the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) or any other Act other than the CGST/SGST Act;
- a person who has been convicted for an offence under this Act by a court;
- a person who has been accused of committing an offence specified in clauses (h),(k) or (l) of sub-section (1) of section 92; and
- any other class of persons or offences as may be prescribed:
PROVIDED FURTHER that any compounding allowed under the provision of this section shall not affect the proceedings if any, instituted under any other law:
PROVIDED ALSO that compounding shall be allowed only after making payment of tax, interest and penalty involved in such offences.
- The amount for compounding of offences under this section shall be as may be prescribed under the rules to be made under sub-section (1), subject to the minimum amount not being less than ten thousand rupees or fifty per cent of the tax involved, whichever is greater, and the maximum amount not being more than thirty thousand rupees or one hundred and fifty per cent of the tax, whichever is greater.
- On payment of such compounding amount as may be determined by the competent authority, no further proceedings shall be initiated under the Act against the accused person in respect of the same offence and any criminal proceedings, if already initiated in respect of the said offence, shall stand abated.
