GST evasion worth Rs12,000 cr detected

New Delhi, December 12

The government has detected GST evasion worth Rs 12,000 crore in eight months till November, a senior tax official said on Wednesday.

Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) member John Joseph said despite the electronic way or e-way bill mechanism, there has been rampant evasion and there is a need to increase compliance.

“We started anti-evasion measures from April onwards, and from April-November, we have detected Rs 12,000 crore of GST evasion. This is huge compared to what happened on the central excise or service tax side. There is huge evasion. There are smarter guys outside who know how to pocket the money,” Joseph said addressing an Assocham event.

Joseph, who looks after investigation in the CBIC, said almost Rs 8,000 crore worth GST evasion has been recovered by tax officials.

Goods and Services Tax (GST), which subsumed 17 local taxes, including excise duty and service tax, was introduced on July 1, 2017. Since it was a new tax, the government had decided to go slow on enforcement action in the initial months of its implementation.

Joseph said only 5-10 per cent of the 1.2 crore assessees are evading GST and bringing a bad name to the industry. “We need to improve compliance mechanism.” On industry concerns as to whether a change in government might lead to an overhaul of the GST process, he said: “With all the apprehensions that you have, whether the election results are going to be bad for GST or not, I can tell you very clearly that the same politicians whether in Opposition or ruling party, they all came together to conceive this.” — PTI