Dehradun: GST evasion scam of over ₹20 crore detected, 1 held
The Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) Uttarakhand has been developing intelligence about GST evasion from different sources
The Central Goods and Service Tax (CGST) Dehradun Commissionerate has detected a GST evasion of ₹20.83 crore and arrested the proprietor of one city-based firm, officials said.
Dehradun-based Thakur Traders issued goods-less invoices, in excess of ₹135 crores (inclusive of GST) to various entities throughout India and passed on fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) of more than ₹20 crore, and Ishrat Ali Ansari, the proprietor of one of the beneficiary firms, A&A Trading Co., Dehradun, has been arrested and sent to 14-day judicial custody, said Deepankar Aron, commissioner CGST Commissionerate Dehradun.
Aron said CGST Uttarakhand has been developing intelligence about GST evasion from different sources.
“Apart from informers, the officers are relying heavily on data analysis. A major drive has been taken by this office as regards those entities who have availed or utilised fake ITC in order to evade government revenue. Intelligence inputs reveal that a nexus of newly registered firms has been passing huge amounts of ineligible ITC within a very short period of their registration. This fraudulent ITC is then being utilised to pay the GST liabilities causing losses to the government exchequer,” he said.
Aron said during interrogation the proprietor of A&A Trading Co., Dehradun revealed that the firm Indian Trading Co. was created by him to utilise fraudulent ITC and consciously evade taxes. Subsequently, searches were also conducted at other suppliers of A&A Trading Co., based in Kanpur and Muzaffarnagar, which in turn also turned out to be fake. Accordingly, the proprietor of A&A Trading Co. who has utilised fraudulent ITC to the tune of ₹ 9.36 crore and seems to be part of a wider nexus, was arrested on Friday under Section 69 of CGST Act, 2017 and was sent to 14-day judicial custody. The evasion of such a huge amount of GST dues is punishable with imprisonment of up to 5 years in jail along with a fine. Further investigation on various other aspects is underway,” he added.