Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Saturday that the authorities will introduce a biometric authentication system across the country to help limit instances of fake invoices. Speaking at the 53rd GST Council Meeting, the Union Minister said that the Aadhaar authentication is anticipated to help manage fraudulent input tax credit claims.
The meeting marked the first meet-up of the GST Council since the new government under PM Narendra Modi came into power for the third tenure in office. The meeting saw participation from the Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, the Chief Ministers from Goa and Meghalaya, Deputy Chief Ministers from Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha, Finance Ministers of States and UTs, along with senior officials from the Ministry of Finance and states/UTs, reported Moneycontrol.
Sitharaman informed that the biometric authentication system will be implemented in a phased manner. “There is going to be a rolling out of biometric-based Aadhaar authentication on an all-India basis. This will help us to combat fraudulent input tax credit claims made through fake invoices in the cases,” the Finance Minister noted.
The ministry further stated that in addition to managing ITC frauds, the authentication would also boost the registration process in GST.
Sharing further announcements, the Finance Minister said, “The council has recommended retrospectively amending the time limit to avail input tax credit under section 16(4) of the CGST Act for invoices or debit notes filed up to 30-11-2021, covering the financial years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21.”
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The FM also said during the meeting that the Centre was dedicated to including petrol and diesel in the GST ambit and it remained in the hands of the states to decide the GST rates on fuel. The Council also suggested a uniform GST rate of 12 per cent on all milk cans.