Section 71 of GST – Access to business premises
(1) Any officer under this Act, authorise by the proper officer not below the rank of Joint Commissioner, shall have access to any place of business of a registered person to inspect books of account, documents, computers, computer programs, computer software whether installed in a computer or otherwise and such other things as he may require and which may be available at such place, for the purposes of carrying out any audit, scrutiny, verification and checks as may be necessary to safeguard the interest of revenue. (2) Every person in charge of place referred to in sub-section (1) shall, on demand, make available to the officer authorised under sub-section (1) or the audit party deputed by the proper officer or a cost accountant or chartered accountant nominated under section 66—
(i) such records as prepared or maintained by the registered person and declared to the proper officer in such manner as may be prescribed;(ii) trial balance or its equivalent;(iii) statements of annual financial accounts, duly audited, wherever required;(iv) cost audit report, if any, under section 148 of the Companies Act, 2013;(v) the income-tax audit report, if any, under section 44AB of the Income-tax Act,1961; and(vi) any other relevant record,
for the scrutiny by the officer or audit party or the chartered accountant or cost accountant within a period not exceeding fifteen working days from the day when such demand is made, or such further period as may be allowed by the said officer or the audit party or the chartered accountant or cost accountant. Related provisions of the Statute:
Analysis of this section
Introduction This provision empowers any officer authorised by the officer not below the rank of Joint Commissioner to have access to any place of business of a registered person to inspect books of account, documents, computers, computer programmes, computer software and such other things as may be required and which may be available at such place, for the purposes of carrying out any audit, scrutiny, verification and checks as may be necessary to safeguard the interest of revenue. Analysis To access the business premises, the officer should be authorized by the proper officer not below the rank of Joint Commissioner. Experts are apprehensive of far reaching consequences of this section which is potentially capable of misuse. Strong understanding of the legal remedies available will equip in attending to these inspections. Such an authorized officer shall have access to any place of business of registered person to inspect books of account, documents, computers, computer programs, computer software (whether installed in a computer or otherwise) and such other things as he may require as available at such premises. The object is to carry out any audit, scrutiny, verification and checks as may be necessary to safeguard the interest of revenue. The person in charge of the premises should make available the following:
- Records maintained by the registered person and declared to proper officer;2. Trial balance or its equivalent;3. Audited financial statements wherever required;4. Cost audit report, if any;5. Income Tax audit report, if any;6. Other relevant records. The documents/records should be made available within 15 working days or such extended period as may be allowed. The documents/records can be called for by the authorised officer or audit party under section 65 or Chartered Accountant or Cost Accountant nominated by the department under section 66. Comparative review In the erstwhile indirect tax laws, and even in various State VAT laws similar provisions exist. Recommended Articles –
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