Panmei calls for tax grievance redress system in northeast

Shillong, Feb. 22: Central Excise and Service Tax Commissioner Gaigongdin Panmei today expressed concern at the lack of tax grievance redressal system in north eastern states called for to set it up before the GST rolled out later this year.

“There is no (grievance redressal) mechanism as far as I see. I ve not seen any well set dispute resolution mechanism (in any of the states). You need to have a very strong grievance redressal system and advance system tax collection does not end when you collect tax, Panmei said while addressing at an outreach program on Goods and Services Tax here.

He said, “there are going to be dispute, differences, interpretation and tax statutes between the taxpayers and also the collectors.”

He said, “you need a good system so that you will not have any problem when you move over from the old system to the new dispensation. Panmei also stressed that the respective state governments in the North East should set up and train people and put the mechanism in place before the GST rolled out.

The Central Excise and Service Tax commissioner also highlighted the low number of taxation officers which could hamper the transition period.

Meghalaya has about 100 officers in the entire state, Mizoram 82, Nagaland 71 and Tripura has about 93 officers, Panmei said, adding, these are not sufficient, he said.