Govt for decriminalising select offences under GST

New Delhi: The government is working on decriminalisation of certain offences under GST by raising the threshold limit for launching prosecution and also lowering charges for compounding of offence, an official said on Wednesday.

Currently, the law provides for launching prosecution against offenders in cases where the amount of Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion or misuse of Input Tax Credit (ITC) is more than Rs5 crore. "We are working on making the provision under GST Act for prosecution more simpler and friendly for taxpayers.

We have Section 132 under CGST Act which criminalises illegal credit for GST evasion. The threshold level (for launching prosecution) are being reconsidered," finance ministry additional secretary (revenue) Vivek Aggarwal said at an Assocham event here.