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To protect businesses from harassment, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) will soon come out with an elaborate standard operating procedure (SOP) for serving summons and notices under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, according to a report by The Economic Times.

The new SOP will permit the board to closely monitor the GST probe, the line of investigation adopted, and its progress. The officials will be more accountable and the entire process will become more transparent. The move comes after a significant increase in the number of complaints against the use of force and coercion by tax authorities for making recovery during the probe has been reported.

"We don't have any SOP under the GST for summons and notices, and these are two troublesome things," said one official, who did not wish to be identified. "Once there is an SOP in place, we can question any breach."

In the past few months, there has been a surge in the number of tax notices, which were served by the GST officials, summoning finance chiefs, CXOs, and even chief executives to be physically present. Several businesses also end up getting repeated summons.

The draft for SOP is almost final, the official said, adding that there have been elaborate discussions with field formations and stakeholders, including businesses.

The proposed SOP will also aim to ensure that there is no overlapping of notices between the central and state jurisdiction. Many businesses had complained that they received multiple notices for the same issue, thereby making compliance difficult for them.

In May, the board directed its field formulations that tax authorities would face action if a taxpayer is forced to make a voluntary payment of tax during a search and that recovery of dues should follow the due legal process after issuance of adjudication order, and not during searches.

Q1. The RBI is taking a series of steps to attract foreign flows and protect the rupee amid depleting forex reserves. It is acting across three channels – the banking deposit, the FPI debt, and the ECB. Will these measures be enough?

Ans:

>RBI signalling that world economic turmoil to last longer than expected

>RBI and govt ensuring that private debt repayments don’t go against India

>Creating framework for compensatory inflows

Q2. Of the 621 billion dollars of external debt, over 40 per cent is due for repayment in the next nine months. This will be equivalent to about 44 per cent of the country’s forex reserves. First, is this bunching up of repayments par for the course? And if not, how will this play out going forward?

Ans:

>The present situation is unusual

>Huge external commercial borrowings by India Inc after 2008 crisis

>Economy presently facing forex and inflation pressure

>RBI’s inflation targeting will address some of these pressures

>Pressure will emerge on growth front, instead of inflation or forex

Q3. Current account deficit is seen doubling to 3 per cent of GDP this year and the rupee hitting 82 a dollar by the third quarter before recovering. Given these, how has the RBI fared in managing the rupee’s fall and are its CAD measures adequate?

Ans:

>Rupee hasn’t depreciated against basket of currencies due to strong exports

>Global monetary tightening and likely recession in importing countries could change scenario

>People worried about rupee’s fall could be in for a shock in the near future

Q4. Do you get the sense that authorities like the RBI are behind the curve in tackling economic headwinds and are playing catch up?

Ans:

>RBI waited too long to express concerns on inflation

>Sudden off-cycle rate hike made it look like RBI was taken by surprise

>Worried about RBI’s image

Q5. I will have to press you on the current account deficit...

Ans:

>3% CAD not that alarming by Indian standards

>Domestic inflation is of greater concern

>Controlling inflation will also correct CAD problem

India's retail inflation likely held steady in June, but well above the Reserve Bank of India's tolerance limit for a sixth month as lower fuel and cooking oil prices offset higher services and food costs, a Reuters poll found.

Despite a substantial recent increase in food prices, rising at the fastest pace in nearly two years, overall inflation was partly contained after the government cut taxes on petrol and diesel and imposed restrictions on food exports.

But most economists warned the near-term outlook was highly uncertain as a heatwave last month pushed up vegetable prices. The government has also cut estimates of wheat production because of dry spells in northern India.

The July 4-8 Reuters poll of 42 economists showed inflation as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) was steady at an annual 7.03 per cent in June, versus 7.04 per cent in May.

Forecasts for the data, due at 1200 GMT on Thursday, July 7, were in a 6.45 per cent-7.70 per cent range.

If realised, inflation would be above 7 per cent for the third consecutive month and above the RBI's 6 per cent upper tolerance target for a sixth month.

"While several goods and services categories are likely to report higher inflation in June, fiscal measures undertaken by the government…will help to cap the upside in domestic prices across food and other segments," noted Rahul Bajoria, chief India economist at Barclays.

"Still, services costs are trending higher, and a passthrough from higher commodity prices is evident across several sectors."

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised interest rates by 90 basis points so far this year to 4.9 per cent and is set to add more in coming months. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said recently inflation was unlikely to fall within the top end of its mandated target band until December.

Wholesale price inflation was seen only moderating slightly from May's three-decade high of 15.88 per cent to 15.50 per cent, the poll showed.

Although consumer price inflation seems to be stabilising, widening trade and current account deficits due to high global crude oil prices pushed the rupee to a recent record low of $79.375, raising concerns over higher imported inflation.

A separate question in a recent Reuters poll asking what the rupee's lowest point against the dollar would likely be over the course of the next three months gave a median of 80, with a range of 79.50-85.00/$.[INR/POLL]