Generation and quoting of DIN on any communication to GST Taxpayers mandatory

The Kerala State GST authorities have mandated the generation and quoting of the Document Identification Number (DIN) on any communication to GST Taxpayers. This initiative is in line with the Centre’s objective to maintain transparency and accountability in tax administration through the use of information technology. 

A Document Identification Number will be a part of the offline communications sent from the department to taxpayers. The taxpayers can verify the authenticity of the document received by searching the DIN in the departmental website. A Document Identification Number comprises of 19 characters including the state code, the current month, the current year and the running serial number. 

The Commisioner of State Tax said in their circular that all search authorization documents, summons, arrest memos, inspection notices and letters issued in the course of any inquiry issued by any officer or by any persons employed in the implementation of the Act are required to contain a computer-generated Document Identification Number (DIN). While the DIN is mandatory on most documents, it can be exempted in certain exceptional circumstances where communication may be issued without an auto generated DIN. However, in such a scenario the communication document can be issued only after recording the reasons in writing.