Kerala GST Dept. mandates Generation and quoting of DIN on any communication to GST Taxpayers

Kerala GST Dept - GST - Taxpayers - DIN- Taxscan

The Kerala GST department on Tuesday mandated the generation and quoting of Document Identification Number (DIN) on any communication to GST Taxpayers.

In keeping with the Government’s objectives of transparency and accountability in tax administration through the widespread use of information technology, the State GST department is implementing a system for electronic (digital) generation of a Document Identification Number (DIN) for all communications sent by its offices to taxpayers and other concerned persons.

“Generation of DIN is meant for digitizing the offline communications sent from the department to taxpayers/other concerned persons. It ensures transparency and accountability in tax administration. The DIN details shall be attached to all the communications sent from the offices. The taxpayers can verify the authenticity and genuineness of the document received by searching DIN in the departmental website,” the circular said.

As per the Circular the DIN contains 19 characters, 32 as a state code, 08 as a current Month, 2020-current year and 00000011as the running serial number in the offices.

The Commissioner of State Tax directed that no search authorization, summons, arrest memo, inspection notices and letters issued in the course of any inquiry shall be issued by any officer or by any persons employed in the implementation of the Act without a computer-generated Document Identification Number (DIN) being duly quoted prominently in the body of such communication.

The circular said that the DIN is a mandatory requirement. However in exceptional circumstances communications may be issued without an auto generated DIN but only after recording the reasons in writing in the concerned file.

“The electronic generation of DIN and its use in official communications to taxpayers and other concerned persons is a transformative initiative. It is reiterated that any specified document that is issued without the electronically generated DIN shall be treated as invalid and shall be deemed to have never been issued. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all officers concerned to strictly adhere to these instructions,” the circular said.

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