By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, NOV 28, 2024: THE GST and Customs Pavilion by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has been awarded the Bronze Medal for its exceptional contribution to Public Communication and Outreach at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2024. This recognition underscores the CBIC's Pavilion's unwavering commitment to promoting taxpayer awareness and ensuring seamless information dissemination.

The accolade recognises the Pavilion's innovative approach in bridging the gap between taxpayers and tax administrators.

Through creative storytelling, state-of-the-art technology, and direct engagement, the Pavilion successfully demystified complex tax concepts, making them accessible to a diverse audience.

Overall, the GST and Customs Pavilion at IITF 2024 attracted over 85,000 visitors, showcasing its widespread appeal and effectiveness in engaging the public.

The theme of "Facilitating Trade, Fostering Economy" focused on creating an interactive and informative experience for visitors. Fostering greater understanding of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) system and Customs procedures, the pavilion featured comprehensive exhibits and dynamic displays highlighting key aspects of India's Indirect tax ecosystem. For the first time, CBIC also adopted the Red Indian Panda as the official Mascot for the IITF-2024.

During the trade fair, 687 queries related to GST & Customs were resolved on the spot. Apart from this, 4,514 general queries about the department and its functioning were enquired by the visitors.

To educate and aware the taxpayers, tutorial videos on various topics i.e. e-invoice under GST, Registration under GST, Aadhar Based Biometric Authentication for GST Registration and IGCRs Rules were displayed in English, Hindi and 10 regional languages through a dedicated audio-visual kiosk. This will strengthen the outreach and understanding of GST and Customs provisions at the regional level across the country.  53 brochures (in English & Hindi) on different topics of GST and Customs were displayed in the pavilion, which may now be downloaded from www.cbic.gov.in.

An activity by trained Customs K9, named "PARO" to detect planted narcotics in the pavilion was also performed and was successfully executed.

Further to assist taxpayers, the Pavilion set up dedicated helpdesks staffed by experienced tax professionals and officials. These helpdesks provided on-the-spot guidance on filing returns, resolving queries, grievance redressal and understanding the latest updates in tax regulations.