India could consider a significant shift in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) including a jurisdiction-free regime as part of the next set of reforms for the five-year-old indirect tax system.
New Delhi, which raised the import duty on gold recently, is not looking at any further administrative measures immediately to clamp down imports.
"The second aspect of administrative structure, which we need to sort of discuss is whether we still need a territorial jurisdiction, at least within CBIC...I think technology makes it possible for us to not be tied to a particular geographic location," Vivek Johri, chairman of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), told ET.
Industry has requested centralised registration and audit, particularly for the financial services sector or enterprises that have pan-India presence, Johri said.
"I think we need to seriously think about them because at one level technology makes it possible, but it requires a lot of discussion with the states...We'll have to initiate that discussion," he said.
".. maybe some beginning in that direction (jurisdiction-free and faceless assessment) ... Even if we don't go there fully or we don't go for something like the faceless system right away, I think there is room for rationalizing the way we're using manpower," he said.
Certain functions require a physical presence, he said.
For example, the physical verification of premises cannot be done remotely, but some functions can be handled better even if one is not present physically at the location.
"It will have to be a hybrid kind of arrangement," Johri said, elaborating on the key focus areas for the indirect tax regime for the next five years.
CBIC has already announced the online grievance redressal system, which will be fully functional in the next three months, he said.
On rate rationalisation, Johri said the expectation was that there would be three rates and for that a lot of thinking and adjustment are required.
"While the Group of Ministers has yet to give its final report on rate rationalisation, the issue in my view is that you cannot have a rate rationalisation unless some rates go up," he said, adding that this would mean re-slotting some items under different rate slabs.
Source Name:-Economic Times