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Circular No. 169/01/2022 – GST: Sections 73 & 74

by Shakshi Bharti | Nov 19, 2023 | GST, 2022 Circulars, Circulars, Circulars CGST 2022 | 0 comments

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Important Keyword: GST Circular 169/01/2022, Proper officer GST, Sections 73 and 74 CGST, DGGI Show Cause Notice, GST adjudication, Notification 02/2022 Central Tax, All India jurisdiction GST, DGGI adjudication authority, GST Show Cause Notice, GST Circular 169 explained,

Words: 1611 Read time: 9 minutes.

F. No. CBIC-20016/2/2022-GST
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
(Department of Revenue)
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs,
GST Policy Wing
*****

New Delhi, dated the 12^th March, 2022

Circular No. 169/01/2022 - GST: Amendment to Circular No. 31/05/2018 - GST, dated 9th February 2018 on 'Proper officer under sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act, 2017 and under the IGST Act, 2017

To,

The Principal Chief Commissioners / Chief Commissioners / Principal Commissioners / Commissioners of Central Tax and Central Tax (Audit) (All)
The Principal Directors General / Directors General (All)

Madam/Sir,

Subject: Amendment to Circular No. 31/05/2018-GST, dated 9th February, 2018 on ‘Proper officer under sections 73 and 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 and under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017'–reg.

Vide Notification No. 02/2022-Central Tax dated 11^th March, 2022, para 3A has been inserted in the Notification No. 2/2017-Central Tax dated 19^th June, 2017, to empower Additional Commissioners of Central Tax/ Joint Commissioners of Central Tax of some of the specified Central Tax Commissionerate’s, with All India Jurisdiction for the purpose of adjudication of the show cause notices issued by the officers of the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence. Consequently, para 6 and 7 of the Circular No. 31/05/2018-GST, dated 9^th February, 2018 are hereby amended as below:

“6. The Central Tax officers of Audit Commissionerate’s and Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (hereinafter referred to as “DGGI”) shall exercise the powers only to issue show cause notices. A show cause notice issued by them shall be adjudicated by the competent Central Tax officer of the executive Commissionerate in whose jurisdiction the noticee is registered when such cases pertain to jurisdiction of one executive Commissionerate of Central Tax only.

7.1 In respect of show cause notices issued by officers of DGGI, there may be cases where the principal place of business of noticees fall under the jurisdiction of multiple Central Tax Commissionerate’s or where multiple show cause notices are issued on the same issue to different noticees, including the persons having the same PAN but different GSTINs, having principal place of business falling under jurisdiction of multiple Central Tax Commissionerate’s.

For the purpose of adjudication of such show cause notices, Additional/Joint Commissioners of Central Tax of specified Commissionerate’s have been empowered with All India jurisdiction vide Notification No. 02/2022-Central Tax dated 11^th March, 2022. Such show cause notices may be adjudicated, irrespective of the amount involved in the show cause notice(s), by one of the Additional/Joint Commissioners of Central Tax empowered with All India jurisdiction vide Notification No. 02/2022-Central Tax dated 11^th March, 2022. Principal Commissioners/ Commissioners of the Central Tax Commissionerate’s specified in the said notification will allocate charge of Adjudication (DGGI cases) to one of the Additional Commissioners/ Joint Commissioners posted in their Commissionerate’s.

Where the location of principal place of business of the noticee, having the highest amount of demand of tax in the said show cause notice(s), falls under the jurisdiction of a Central Tax Zone mentioned in column 2 of the table below, the show cause notice(s) may be adjudicated by the Additional Commissioner/ Joint Commissioner of Central Tax, holding the charge of Adjudication (DGGI cases), of the Central Tax Commissionerate mentioned in column 3 of the said table corresponding to the said Central Tax Zone. Such show cause notice(s) may, accordingly, be made answerable by the officers of DGGI to the concerned Additional/ Joint Commissioners of Central Tax.

TABLE

*Sl. No.*	*Central Tax Zone in whose jurisdiction the location of the principal place of business of the noticee having highest amount of demand of tax involved falls*	*Central Tax Commissionerate whose Additional Commissioner or Joint Commissioner shall adjudicate show cause notices issued by officers of DGGI*
*(1)*	*(2)*	*(3)*
1.	*Ahmedabad*	*Ahmedabad South*
2.	*Vadodara*	*Ahmedabad South*
3.	*Bhopal*	*Bhopal*
4.	*Nagpur*	*Bhopal*
5.	*Chandigarh*	*Chandigarh*
6.	*Panchkula*	*Chandigarh*
7.	*Chennai*	*Chennai South*
8.	*Bengaluru*
9.	*Thiruvananthapuram*
10.	*Delhi*	*Delhi North*
11.	*Jaipur*	*Delhi North*
12.	*Guwahati*	*Guwahati*
13.	*Hyderabad*	*Rangareddy*
14.	*Visakhapatnam (Amaravathi)*
15.	*Bhubaneshwar*
16.	*Kolkata*	*Kolkata North*
17.	*Ranchi*	*Kolkata North*

18.	*Lucknow*	*Lucknow*
19.	*Meerut*	*Lucknow*
20.	*Mumbai*	*Thane*
21.	*Pune*	*Thane*

7.2 In respect of a show cause notice issued by the Central Tax officers of Audit Commissionerate, where the principal place of business of noticees fall under the jurisdiction of multiple Central Tax Commissionerate’s, a proposal for appointment of common adjudicating authority may be sent to the Board.

7.3 In respect of show cause notices issued by the officers of DGGI prior to issuance of Notification No. 02/2022-Central Tax dated 11^th March, 2022, involving cases mentioned in para 7.1 above and where no adjudication order has been issued till date, the same may be made answerable to the Additional/Joint Commissioners of Central Tax, having All India jurisdiction, in accordance with the criteria mentioned in para 7.1 above, by issuing corrigendum to such show cause notices.”

2. It is requested that suitable trade notices may be issued to publicize the contents of this circular.

3. Difficulty, if any, in implementation of the above instructions may please be brought to the notice of the Board. Hindi version would follow.

(Sanjay Mangal)
Principal Commissioner (GST)

📚 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Circular No. 169/01/2022 - GST

Q1. What is Circular No. 169/01/2022-GST about?

Answer: Circular No. 169/01/2022 amends Circular No. 31/05/2018 and clarifies the proper adjudicating authority for Show Cause Notices issued under Sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act, particularly in cases investigated by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI).

Q2. Why was this amendment necessary?

Answer: The amendment was introduced because many DGGI investigations involved taxpayers having multiple GST registrations across different Commissionerate. Without a common adjudicating authority, similar issues could be decided separately, resulting in inconsistent outcomes.

Q3. Do DGGI officers still issue Show Cause Notices?

Answer: Yes. The circular clarifies that DGGI officers continue to have the authority to investigate cases and issue Show Cause Notices. The amendment primarily relates to who will adjudicate those notices.

Q4. When will the jurisdictional Commissioner adjudicate the case?

Answer: If the Show Cause Notice relates to a taxpayer falling under only one executive Commissionerate, the competent Central Tax officer of that Commissionerate will continue to adjudicate the matter.

Q5. When does All India jurisdiction apply?

Answer: All India jurisdiction applies where DGGI-issued Show Cause Notices involve multiple Commissionerates, multiple GST registrations under the same PAN, or multiple notices on the same issue across different jurisdictions.

Q6. Who has been granted All India adjudication powers?

Answer: Certain Additional Commissioners and Joint Commissioners of specified Central Tax Commissionerates have been empowered with All India jurisdiction through Notification No. 02/2022-Central Tax to adjudicate eligible DGGI cases.

Q7. How is the adjudicating Commissionerate selected?

Answer: The Commissionerate is selected based on the location of the principal place of business having the highest amount of tax demand mentioned in the Show Cause Notice. The corresponding Additional or Joint Commissioner will adjudicate the case.

Q8. What happens in Audit Commissionerate cases involving multiple jurisdictions?

Answer: In such cases, the Circular provides that a proposal may be submitted to the CBIC for appointment of a common adjudicating authority to ensure efficient disposal of the matter.

Q9. Does this circular apply to pending DGGI cases?

Answer: Yes. If a DGGI-issued Show Cause Notice was issued before Notification No. 02/2022 but has not yet been adjudicated, it may be transferred to the newly empowered adjudicating authority through a corrigendum.

Q10. Does this circular change GST liability?

Answer: No. The circular is procedural in nature. It does not amend tax rates, ITC provisions, or demand provisions. It only clarifies which officer is competent to adjudicate certain categories of Show Cause Notices.

Q11. Which provisions of the CGST Act are covered?

Answer: The amendment relates to proceedings under Sections 73 and 74 of the CGST Act dealing with determination of tax not paid, short paid, erroneously refunded, or wrongly availed Input Tax Credit.

Q12. Why is this circular important for large businesses?

Answer: Businesses operating across multiple States often face investigations involving several GST registrations. This circular ensures that eligible DGGI cases are adjudicated by a single authority, reducing duplication of proceedings and promoting consistency in decisions.

Conclusion

In simple terms, Circular No. 169/01/2022 strengthens the administrative framework for adjudicating GST disputes arising from DGGI investigations. Rather than changing substantive tax law, it introduces a centralized adjudication mechanism for complex, multi-jurisdictional cases, helping both taxpayers and the tax administration avoid fragmented proceedings.