The Commissioner of Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) on Monday issued guidelines for the virtual hearing of all demand notices related to indirect tax cases under the provisions of Central Excise Act, 1944; the Finance Act, 1994 and Central Goods and Service Tax Act.
Virtual hearing of all related tax appeals including goods and services tax (GST) can be done through Whatsapp. Commissioner of CGST has considered Whatsapp Video conferencing as the most suitable mode, on the ground that it facilitates ‘end to end encryption’.
However, it had also specified that both the appellant or respondent must consent to video conferencing and provide the WhatsApp number as well. Once confirmed, the authority will notify the date and time of the hearing, which will then be confirmed a day in advance.
“Keeping in view the situation arising due to Covid 19, it has been decided to conduct personal hearing in respect of all demand notices through video conferencing,” said in notice.
Whatsapp communication will also be used by the authorities to send out personal hearing memos in PDF form after the hearings conclude. These will have to be signed by the noticee or noticees concerned and sent back to the authority on the same Whatsapp number, within 15 minutes of receipt.
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