Businessmen yet to display GST number

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 23

Despite government instructions, most of the registered business houses have not installed display boards to show their Goods and Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN).

The traders are required to display their GSTINs and registration certificates on their premises to make it easy for the authorities concerned to ascertain if they are registered.

Similarly, composition dealers are supposed to mention along with the registration certificate that they are not entitled to collect tax from taxpayers.

An official of the Excise and Taxation Department said, “The GSTIN is a 15-digit number which taxpayers get after registering themselves with the GST network portal. In the beginning, a business is given a provisional identity for logging into the portal and within three months the registration process has to be completed by giving necessary details. Subsequently, this provisional ID is converted into the GSTIN.”

Focal Point Industries Association chairman Kamal Dalmia said the department did not intimate the registered dealers to display GSTIN. He added that the entrepreneurs learnt about the development from their counterparts in other cities and states. So some of them have done the same while some are highlighting the law on the social media.”

It has been learnt that the Chandigarh and Punjab GST Department is conducting raids to check if the GSTIN number has been displayed on signboards, he said.

As per norms, notice can be issued if the GSTIN number is not mentioned on the signboard on the front door of the business premises. CGST Act’s under Section 125 has a provision of levying penalty up to Rs 25,000.