The state excise and taxation has now decided to mandatorily scrutinise value added tax (VAT) returns of companies. In yet another public notice, the department has sought the appointment of more auditors, in an attempt to keep track of companies, whose returns and scrutiny details dont match.

As per the notification, there are about 2.25 lakhs active assesses with the department and on a random basis at least 50 per cent of them will be under the scrutiny net.

If the returns filed by the company differ with figures of the scrutiny conducted by the excise staff, then the auditors will step in.

The entire process will have to be completed within 8-12 months.

The notice also states that the department has finalised the tender document for this purpose and before freezing the conditions of the contact, the department is interested in obtaining the views of prospective bidders so as to avoid changes in the tender document later on.

Interested bidders must have a gross turnover of Rs 50 cores per annum for the previous 3 years and a meeting in this regard will be held on September 27, the notice adds.

The industry, however, is not happy with yet another public notice.

While earlier not more than 3 per cent of the companies were under scrutiny and that too on a random basis, the decision to make it 50 per cent has sent shock waves across the industry.

Badish Jindal, president of the Federation of Association of Small Industries of India ( FASII) said: This is a way to create terror among industrialists.