New Delhi: The proposal before the GST Council to do away with the arrest powers of GST officers is based on the principle of 'trust the taxpayer' and states too would see virtue in scrapping this power -- which was never there in any other tax law, except excise, Finance Ministry sources said on Tuesday.
"One or two states may feel very sensitive about the proposal of GST officers losing the power to arrest. The proposal does not remove the arrest provision completely under GST law. The proposal states that only after criminality is proven, that a law enforcement officer can arrest an offender," a source said.
