E-Paper
Detected GST evasion of ₹57,000 crore since April 2020: Finance ministry
The statement said DGGI has laid special emphasis to identify and apprehend the masterminds and disrupting syndicates operating across the country
NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has detected Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion of ₹57,000 crore from April 2020 to September 2023 involving over 6,000 fake instances of input tax credit (ITC) claims leading to the arrest of 500 people, a finance ministry statement said on Wednesday.
“Since June 2023, DGGI has laid special emphasis to identify and apprehend the masterminds and disrupting syndicates, operating across the country,” it said.
It added that DGGI initiated a special drive against the practice of claiming fake ITC to plug the leakage in the government’s revenue from 2020.
Cases have been unravelled using data analysis aided by advanced technical tools which have lead to the arrest of tax evaders.
“These tax syndicates often use gullible persons and enticed them with job/commission/bank loan etc to extract their KYC [know your customer] documents which were then used for creation of fake/shell firms/ companies without their knowledge and consent,” it said.
In some cases, KYCs were used with the knowledge of the person concerned by paying them small pecuniary benefits, it added.
In the current financial year (2023-24), 1,040 fake ITC cases involving ₹14,000 crore have been detected and a total of 91 fraudsters apprehended, it said.
To tackle the menace of GST evasion, DGGI develops intelligence, especially in new areas of tax evasion, through advanced tools for data analytics besides using its intelligence network across the country to collect such information, the statement said.
“Overall in FY2023-24, Rs. 1.36 lakh crore has been detected as overall GST evasion (including fake ITC) and voluntary payment of ₹14,108 crore has been made for the same,” it said.
