GST - Audit, assessment and litigation (Coursera)

Learners already undertaking GST compliances may also upskill themselves with the technical skills imparted under this course. This program is industry agnostic and is relevant for anyone looking to acquire basic knowledge of GST. It will provide you with the skills required for entry level jobs in the fields of finance, tax, or law.
By the end of this course, you will learn about:

• The procedure for audit by government authorities
• Assessment of taxes, and the appellate procedure
• Non-compliances or offences leading to penalties and prosecution
• The objectives for the introduction of anti-profiteering provisions, the role and constituents of statutory bodies, and the practical challenges in its implementation
• Business restructuring from a GST perspective, the tax risks, and how MIS reports can help mitigate the risks.

Course 7 of 7 in the PwC GST Taxation Executive Professional Certificate.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
Assessments and audits
Under GST a taxpayer is required to self-assess the tax liability, pay taxes and file returns. Thus, there is a need to ensure that the taxpayer has correctly assessed the tax liability.
Assessment can be undertaken either by the taxpayer themselves, which is called self-assessment, or by the tax authorities, which can be in the form of provisional assessment, summary assessment and best judgment assessment. In this module, you will learn about the different types of assessments by the taxpayer as well as the tax authorities, the situations when each of these are invoked and key considerations pertaining to them. You will also learn about the basic framework of audits under GST.

WEEK 2
Demands, appeals and penalties
Any non-compliance or contravention of provisions of GST law can attract scrutiny, assessment, audit, demand and recovery proceedings. Demand and recovery provisions are invoked against the taxpayer if there is any short payment or wrong utilisation of input credit. If the taxpayer is unhappy with the order or decision passed by the Tax Officer, such taxpayer has a statutory right to file an appeal.
In this module, you will learn the circumstances under which demand can be raised and the timelines for the issuance of notice and conclusion of proceedings. We shall discuss the procedural requirements for filing of appeals such as who can file the appeal, which forum should the appeal be filed to, the quantum of pre-deposit and other important aspects. We shall also discuss the offences that can attract penalties under GST.

WEEK 3
What is anti-profiteering?
The Government introduced provisions in the GST legislation that any reduction in the tax incidence, i.e. GST should be passed on to consumers through a commensurate reduction in prices. This measure of the Government is commonly known as ‘anti-profiteering’. ‘Anti-profiteering’, as the name suggests, means that one cannot ‘profiteer’ from GST. In this module, we shall discuss the legal framework for anti-profiteering regulations in India and the authorities constituted by the Government to check the cases of anti-profiteering.