CAG audit · Comptroller and Auditor General of India · 2022-08-08

CAG Report No. 5 of 2022 - Compliance Audit on Goods and Services Tax (year ended March 2021)

This six-chapter Union report covers indirect tax trends and budget versus actual GST receipts. It reviews progress on the simplified return system, scrutiny, internal audit, anti-evasion and DGARM risk reports. It is also the first time CAG analysed pan-India GST return data, which GSTN made available from February 2021. Two subject-specific audits cover refund processing and transitional credits. The Ministry accepted refund observations worth Rs. 92.08 crore and transitional credit observations worth Rs. 309.82 crore.

Read the official report →All GST reports

Key findings and recommendations

  • Central GST taxes fell 8.34 per cent in FY21, from Rs. 6,01,784 crore to Rs. 5,51,541 crore, or 2.79 per cent of GDP.
  • Linking GSTR-1, GSTR-2B and GSTR-3B was real progress, but a non-intrusive system with system-verified ITC was still not in place.
  • CAG called for a standard, risk-based return scrutiny system with results recorded in real time in the CBIC-GST system.
  • Follow-up on DGARM's high-risk taxpayer reports was manual or semi-automated and fell short of what was needed.
  • Pan-India data analysis found large inconsistencies across returns, including CGST and SGST figures that did not match.

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