GST FRAUD
29,273 bogus firms involved in suspected Input Tax Credit (ITC) evasion of Rs. 44,015 crore detected in a sustained drive against non-existent taxpayers by GST formations across the country since May 2023; 121 arrested

GST officers are using data analytics to ascertain if the entire supply chain in a particular sector is paying adequate GST or if there is a missing link, an official said. With GST evasion of over Rs 1 lakh crore detected in the last fiscal ended March 31, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has stepped up efforts to catch evasion at the initial stage itself so that compliance improves.

“We are using ‘end-to-end’ analytics for a sector and ‘gap analysis’ of the taxes paid in a supply chain to ascertain if the entire value chain is paying adequate GST or if there is a missing link,” the official told PTI. which are covered under GST are paying their due share of taxes,” an official said.

After the analysis, if the department finds that some changes are required in law or tariffs to check evasion by increasing compliance, then it would be presented before the Council for approval.

If a sub-part of any sector is not paying taxes in the value chain and there is a case of evasion, enforcement action could be taken, the official said.

GST evasion detection by tax officers almost doubled year-on-year to over Rs 1.01 lakh crore in 2022-23 fiscal. A recovery of Rs 21,000 crore was made by the officers of the DGGI.

The total number of Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion cases too had gone up with about 14,000 cases detected in 2022-23, up from 12,574 cases in 2021-22 and 12,596 cases in 2020-21.