Bengal employs over 1,000 tax officers who were appointed under the West Bengal Value Added Tax, 2003, and now deemed to be appointed under the West Bengal Goods and Services Tax Ordinance, 2017. These officers were entrusted with the collection of erstwhile state commercial taxes such as value-added tax, entry tax and luxury tax, From July, they will be responsible for the collection of state goods and service tax. While Bengal officers under state GST are called state tax officers, the central government officers of the corresponding executive positions are called assistant commissioners of central tax. "Our officers are simply called state tax officers compared with the officers appointed by the Centre who hold the rank of commissioners," a senior commercial tax official said. Moreover, 90 per cent of the tax files of assessees with a turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore, will be handled by the state tax officers.

Source: The Telegraph July 02, 2017 22:18 UTC