GST Evasion

GST officers have detected cases of ITC evasion of Rs 35,132 crore by 17,818 fake firms between April-October and arrested 69 persons, Parliament was informed on Monday. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said regular action is taken to detect fake firms through data analytics and other intelligence by the central and state authorities. Also, a coordinated special drive was launched between August 16 and October 30 to detect fake firms. "A total of 18,876 ITC fraud cases were detected involving 17,818 fake firms with suspected ITC evasion of Rs 35,132 crore during fiscal 2024-25 (April-October)," Chaudhary said. This has saved Rs 6,484 crore of which Rs 5,422 crore by blocking of ITC and Rs 1,062 crore by way of recovery. A total of 69 arrests have been made in the cases during the current fiscal till October.

GST authorities have booked a Rs 722.43 crore tax evasion case against crypto exchange and Binance Group Company, Nest Services Ltd, Parliament was informed on Monday. In total, cases have been booked against 17 cryptocurrency exchanges for GST evasion of Rs 824.14 crore. Recovery of Rs 122.29 crore in interest, penalty and taxes has been made by GST authorities, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. Central GST formations have detected Rs 40.51 crore GST evasion by Zanmai Labs Pvt (WAZIRX), Rs 16.84 crore by CoinDCX and Rs 14.13 crore by CoinSwitch Kuber. As many as four investors in virtual digital assets have been investigated by the Central GST authorities and Rs 1.76 crore evasion has been detected. Rs 2.40 crore has been recovered in taxes, penalty and interest. Chaudhary said total 47 Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers (VDA SPs) have been registered as Reporting Entities with Financial Intelligence Unit-India under the

There was meticulous planning at the top level before conducting the massive raids on gold jewellery manufacturing units by Kerala GST officials in Thrissur district, aimed at uncovering unaccounted gold linked to tax evasion, official sources said on Friday. The two-day-long massive searches were carried out by around 700 officials from the state's GST department at gold jewellery manufacturing units across the central Kerala district, seizing 104 kg of unaccounted gold after extensive preparations and planning to ensure that there were no loose ends, they said. The operation was planned and implemented with the full support of state Finance Minister K N Balagopal, an official source told told PTI. Around 700 officers were summoned to gather at two locations on Wednesday (October 23) and then transported in tourist buses labelled as study tours to various sites in Thrissur. A senior GST official involved in the operation, named "Torrel del Oro," said, "We opted for tourist buses t

Investigation arm DGGI has detected 6,084 cases involving Rs 2.01 lakh crore of GST evasion in 2023-24 fiscal, with online gaming and BFSI in services and iron, copper, scrap and alloys in goods emerging as the sectors most prone to evasion. The amount is double of over Rs 1.01 lakh crore detected in 2022-23 in 4,872 cases. Out of these, voluntary taxes of Rs 26,605 crore was paid in 2023-24, up from Rs 20,713 crore in 2022-23. As per the annual report of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), about 46 per cent of the evasion cases related to non-payment of tax (through clandestine supply and undervaluation), 20 per cent related to fake Input Tax Credit (ITC), and 19 per cent to wrong availment/non-reversal of ITC. In 2023-24, online gaming sector saw maximum evasion with Rs 81,875 crore in 78 cases, followed by Banking, Financial and Insurance (BFSI) with Rs 18,961 crore evasion in 171 cases. Works contract services and pharmaceutical had 343 cases and 22 evasion case

Infosys said Wednesday it has paid all that it is legally required to - and even investors don't believe that India's second-largest software exporter needs to provide for the alleged liability

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will inaugurate on Monday a conference of enforcement chiefs of all state and central GST officers to tackle tax evasion. In the conference, Goods and Services Tax (GST) formations will deliberate on combating GST evasion, including examining current challenges and delving into successful methods adopted by central and state tax enforcement officers. It would also strategise on effective methods to combat fake invoicing, sharing best practices, fostering synergy, and leveraging technology and data. The conference will also balance ease of doing business and discuss striking a crucial equilibrium between facilitating a smooth business environment and implementing effective and deterrent enforcement measures. Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman will inaugurate the one-day conference and also deliver the keynote address on March 4, a finance ministry statement said. Embracing the spirit of cooperative federalism as .

Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Monday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal "advising" him to ask the finance minister to conduct a detailed inquiry into alleged Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion in the city. In a statement, the Delhi government condemned instances of tax evasion and said that despite its efforts to develop a software to address the problem, a proposal to this effect has been "languishing among bureaucratic offices for almost a year". In his letter to Kejriwal, Saxena said Delhi has achieved the "inglorious distinction" of recording the highest tax evasion in the country. In all, 483 "bogus firms" were detected which evaded Rs 3,028 crore of tax, he said. "It is indeed dubious that the capital of the country tops the list of tax evasion amongst all states and union territories, with the one on the second place behind Delhi by as much as Rs 827 crore. This is a serious matter in which the possibility of collusion of officials in the GST ...

140 masterminds behind GST evasion cases and 116 behind ITC frauds were arrested in 2023

The company claimed that it is not liable to pay the penalty for the period from October 29, 2019, to March 31, 2022

A total of 12 cases of GST evasion involving Rs 345 crore have been detected against lottery distributors since July 2017, Parliament was informed on Monday. Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said Rs 622 crore, including interest and penalty, have been recovered from lottery distributors from July 2017 till November 2023. "Twelve cases involving GST evasion of Rs 344.57 crore have been detected against lottery distributors and Rs 621.56 crore (including interest and penalty) has been recovered/realized from July 2017 to till November 2023," Karad said. Karad further said the Finance Ministry had received a reference from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for comments regarding disbursement of prize amount of lotteries through formal banking channel. "Comments in this regard have been sent to MHA. Using formal banking channel for any kind of transaction, including disbursement of lottery prize, is helpful in mitigating the associated mo

The Centre may also tweak the rules of issuing summonses to the violators

Could be highest recovery ever in a year

The Sikkim High Court has granted a stay on about Rs 628 crore GST demand order against Delta Corp, the casino and online gaming company said in a regulatory filing on Sunday. The government has raised a total GST demand of around Rs 23,000 crore against the company till date which includes recovery of the shortfall of taxes for casino and online gaming business of the Delta Corp group. The Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Hyderabad on September 22 issued three demand notices against the company including a demand of over Rs 628 crore for the shortfall of tax paid by Delta Corp Limited in relation to Casino Deltin Denzong based out of Sikkim. "Pursuant to a writ petition filed by the Company before the Hon'ble High Court of Sikkim challenging the above demand, the Hon'ble High Court has by its order dated 20th October 2023 ordered status quo to be maintained in respect of the demand until the date of next hearing," Delta Corp said in the filing. Besides casinos, Delta Corp

The high court had quashed the Directorate General of GST Intelligence's order alleging tax evasion of Rs 21,000 crore in May this year

Alleging that GST frauds are proliferating across the country and MSMEs are facing problems due to a web of regulations, Dr Amit Mitra, principal chief advisor to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, urged Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to convene a GST Council meeting to discuss these issues. Mitra, a former state finance minister, referred to the central government's admission in the Lok Sabha that Rs 1.15 lakh crore of fraud have been detected from GST invoices between 2018-19 and 2022-23. "I write this letter with great anguish and deep concern. On one hand, GST frauds are proliferating across the country penetrating each and every state. On the other, the web of regulations is so overpowering for the MSMEs, that they are on the verge of deregistering back to their informal status," Mitra said. The humongous' fraud taking place in the country and the suffering of the MSME in the current GST system require a total rethink by the Centre and the GST Council on the

As many as 2,784 cases of GST evasion involving Rs 14,302 crore were detected in the first two months of the current fiscal, while Rs 5,716 crore was recovered during the period, Parliament was informed on Monday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in the Lok Sabha gave details of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and income tax evasion, as well as detection of outright smuggling by the Customs department. As per the data, GST evasion of over Rs 2.68 lakh crore was detected in 43,516 cases between 2020-21 and 2023-24 (April-May). A recovery of Rs 76,333 crore was made during the period while 1,020 persons were arrested. In the current fiscal (April-May), 2,784 cases of evasion of Rs 14,302 crore were detected. As many as 28 persons were arrested and Rs 5,716 crore recovered during the period. As per the statistics on surveys, searches and seizures carried out by the Income Tax Department in the last 5 years, searches were conducted on 3,946 groups while assets worth

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DGGI has unearthed number of modus operandi by which tax evasion has been done in the recent past

A businessman has been arrested from Ahmedabad for allegedly availing fake input tax credit (ITC) to the tune of Rs 7.22 crore after the Central Goods and Services Tax commissionerate unearthed evasion of Rs 36.95 crore in GST involving ten non-existent firms, the CGST commissionerate here said on Wednesday. The preventive wing of CGST Ahmedabad south commissionerate found "a web of non-existent firms involved in passing of fake input tax credit by routing the invoices through a series of firms". During investigation, GST (Goods and Services Tax) evasion of Rs 36.95 crore having a taxable value of Rs 205.27 crore involving ten fictitious firms was unearthed, the CGST commissionerate of Ahmedabad south said in a release. The proprietor of one Ashapura Traders, Vihol Viramji, was arrested on May 29 for availing and utilising fake input tax credit to the tune of Rs 7.22 crore. He was produced before a metropolitan court here which sent him to judicial custody till June 13, stated the .