II
IGST Act · Chapter II
Administration
2 sections authoredIGST Act, 2017
s. 3Appointment of Officers
Section 3 is the source of the Centre's administrative machinery for IGST. It does not create a separate IGST cadre: the central tax officers appointed under the CGST Act are the officers who administer IGST.
- Section 3 of the IGST Act, 2017 empowers the Board — the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs — to appoint central tax officers to exercise powers under the IGST Act.
- Section 3 came into force on 22.06.2017, ahead of the levy, so that officers could be in place before 01.07.2017.
- State and Union territory tax officers act as proper officers for IGST under section 4, not section 3.
s. 4Authorisation of State and UT tax officers
Section 4 lets State and Union territory tax officers act as proper officers for IGST. With it, a taxpayer assigned to a State administration deals with one authority for CGST, SGST and IGST alike, instead of with the Centre for inter-State supplies.
- Under section 4 of the IGST Act, 2017, officers appointed under the State GST Acts and the UTGST Act are authorised to be proper officers for IGST, subject to exceptions and conditions notified on the GST Council's recommendation.
- Section 4 came into force on 01.07.2017.
- In Armour Security (India) Ltd v Commissioner, CGST (2025) the Supreme Court held that a summons is not the "initiation of proceedings" that bars a second authority under section 6(2)(b) of the CGST Act; the bar operates once a show cause notice has been issued on the same liability.