Traders Directed to “Mandatorily” Declare GSTIN in Documents from Feb 15

New Delhi, February 9, 2020:

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has made it mandatory for importers and exporters to declare Goods and Services Tax Identification Number or GSTIN in documents from February 15.

The CBIC issued a circular stating that some cases had come to notice wherein the importer or exporter had not declared their GSTIN in the Entry or Shipping Bill despite being registered with Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN).

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Therefore, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs stated, “With effect from February 15, 2020, the declaration of GSTIN shall also be mandatory in import/export documents for the importers and exporters registered as GST taxpayers.”

The decision has been made in order to support the revenue department’s move to crackdown on evaders and plug Goods and Services Tax revenue leakage.

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It may be mentioned here that GSTIN is a 15-digit PAN-based unique identification number allotted to every registered person under GST. While importers have to fill Bill of Entry with Customs department while importing goods, exporters have to file the Shipping Bill.

Rampant tax evasion through the black market and under-valuing of imports has been detected by revenue authorities. It has come to light that although importers are paying GST, they are supplying the goods without a bill.

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Exporters have also been asked to provide details of the state and district of origin of goods and details of preferential agreements under which, the goods are being exported in the shipping bill.

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