A father-son duo has been arrested by GST officers for tax evasion of Rs 28 crore, marking the first arrest in the national capital under the new indirect tax regime.
The Shahdara-based duo was held on May 22 for issuing invoices fraudulently, a finance ministry statement said. The arrest was made by the Central Tax, GST Delhi, East Commissionerate.
The case involved "fraudulent issuance of Input Tax Credit invoices involving evasion of approximately Rs 28 crore relating to copper industry", the ministry said.
Searches were conducted at several places during which various incriminating documents and evidence were found. Investigation revealed involvement of the two individuals, the statement said.
They were arrested under Section 69 (1) of CGST Act and were remanded to 14-day judicial custody.
As per Section 132 of the CGST Act, issuance of an invoice or bill without supply of goods and wrongful availment or utilisation of input tax credit is a cognizable and non-bailable offence if the amount involved is over Rs 5 crore.
Further investigations are underway and the quantum of evasion is likely to go up. Officers are not ruling out the possibility of existence of several other fake firms as the probe moves ahead, the statement added.