Undue harassment of genuine MSME online sellers, in the garb of the special drive to eliminate fraudulent GST identification numbers , by GST officials 'not justified', says industry body FIRST India Widespread undue harassment of genuine MSME online sellers

by GST officials in the garb of the special drive to eliminate fraudulent GST identification numbers must be stopped, asserted industry leaders at a session organised by The Forum for Internet Retailers, Sellers, and Traders India (FIRST India) in the capital.

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had launched a special two-month drive in May to weed out fake GST registrations.

The apex body for regulating GST inflows had stated that fake or illegitimate registrations were being used to transfer input tax credit (ITC) to unscrupulous recipients by issuing invoices without any underlying supply of goods or services.

Traders said this was causing troubles for honest businesspeople, too. “The government's so-called fake GST registration drive,

which started last year and this year, is resulting in widespread issues for genuine online sellers,” said Vinod Kumar, President, India SME Forum and Trustee and President, First India.

The whole GST framework was supposed to usher in one nation, one tax regime; but considering the way tax officials are now interpreting tax laws and

various states continue to ask state-specific mandatory paperwork the on-ground execution of GST is nowhere near its ambitious goals, leave aside being a faceless tax assessment, which it never was.