Central Government includes GSTN under the purview of PMLA

The Central Government vide Notification F. No. P.12011/2/2009-ES Cell-DOR dated 07^th July, 2023(“the notification”) has made an amendment to the principal notification published on 27^th June, 2006 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (“PMLA, 2022”). The amendment introduces a new entry for the Goods and Services Tax Network (“GSTN”) as entry no. 26.
The notification will make the information sharing platform more comprehensive and two-way as it now allows the flow of information from Enforcement Directorate (“ED”), Financial Intelligence Unit (“FIU”) to GSTN. Please note that GSTN was already sharing information with Enforcement Wing, Financial Intelligence Unit (“FIU”) and other agencies like Central Board of Direct Taxes (“CBDT”) etc. through a memorandum of understanding.
The initiative may strengthen and tighten the investigation both under PMLA & GST more effectively.