- The Finance Act 2025 introduces key amendments to the Sales Tax Act, 1990, focusing on accountability, compliance, and enforcement.
- The definition of abettor is refined to target those intentionally involved in tax fraud, removing clauses on login misuse and bogus registrations.
- Food delivery and e-commerce platforms are exempt from being categorized as courier services for sales tax collection.
- A 2 percent sales tax withholding on e-commerce applies only to cottage industry and retailers with NTN, excluding Tier-I retailers.
- Bank account suspension for unregistered suppliers is now a phased process with intermittent suspensions before permanent action.
- A committee will review registration enforcement, with options to restrict property transfer or lift bank freezes after a grace period.
- Penalties for failing to integrate with the tax system now apply to all registered persons, not just Tier-I retailers.
- Penalties and arrest conditions for tax fraud and non-compliance are rationalized, with arrests only under strict conditions.
- The proposal to give investigation officers police-like powers is scaled back.
Source: pkrevenue.com
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
