The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has detected Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion of Rs 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, the Finance Ministry statement said.
The Finance Ministry highlighted that in the current Financial Year 2023-24, a total of 1,040 fake ITC cases involving Rs. 14,000 crore has been detected with a total of 91 fraudsters have been apprehended till date.
“Overall in FY 2023-24, Rs. 1.36 lakh crore has been detected as overall GST evasion (including fake ITC) and voluntary payment of Rs 14,108 crore has been made for the same,” the Ministry said.
The Ministry said that DGGI had initiated a Special Drive against the practice of claiming fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) to plug the leakage in Government revenue from November, 2020, and continues to check ITC evasion actively.
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.
“Since June 2023, the investigative agency has focused on identifying and apprehending the masterminds of syndicates operating nationwide. Advanced technical tools have aided in the data analysis, leading to the arrest of tax evaders,” the Ministry noted.
The tax syndicates commonly exploit unsuspecting individuals, enticing them with job offers, commissions, or loans to obtain their Know Your Customer (KYC) documents. These documents are then used to set up fraudulent firms or companies without the individual’s consent.
In some cases, KYCs were used with the knowledge of the person concerned by paying them small pecuniary benefits, it added.
