GST evasion of over ₹1.88L crore detected between April-December 2024
What's the story
The Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) officers have detected a whopping Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion of over ₹1.88 lakh crore.
The huge tax fraud was detected between April and December 2024.
The GST evasion spanned a total of 72,393 cases, including those pertaining to Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraud.
Over this period, law enforcement authorities arrested 132 people in connection with these cases. They succeeded in recovering ₹20,128 crore as part of their crackdown on this fraud.
Past records
Previous fiscal years also witnessed significant GST evasion
In the 2023-24 fiscal year, CGST officials detected GST evasion of ₹2.30 lakh crore in 20,582 cases.
This resulted in the recovery of ₹31,758 crore and the arrest of 223 people.
In the 2022-23 and 2021-22 fiscal years, tax evasion stood at ₹1.32 lakh crore and ₹73,238 crore respectively, underscoring the ongoing problem of tax compliance in India.
Anti-fraud measures
Special drives conducted to detect fake GST registrations
To tackle tax evasion, Central and state GST officers had launched special drives in 2023 and 2024.
These drives focused on identifying fake GST registrations.
The first drive, conducted from May to August in 2023, detected 21,808 non-existing GSTINs and tax evasion of ₹24,357 crore.
Eight people were arrested in the operation.
Drive results
Second drive uncovers 68,393 non-existing GSTINs
The second special drive was carried out from August-October in 2024. This operation resulted in the detection of 68,393 non-existing GSTINs and ₹25,346 crore of tax evasion.
As many as 19 people were arrested in connection with this drive.
These efforts highlight the continued fight against tax fraud in India and the steps being taken to combat it.