Being the premier Intelligence and Investigating Agency of GST tax evasion across the country, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (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. From April 2020 to September 2023, more than 6,000 fake ITC cases involving more than Rs. 57,000 crore GST evasion has been detected and a total of 500 persons have been arrested.
Since June 2023, DGGI has laid special emphasis to identify and apprehend the masterminds and disrupting syndicates, operating across the country. Cases have been unraveled using data analysis aided by advanced technical tools which has lead to the arrest of tax evaders. These tax syndicates often use gullible persons and enticed them with job / commission / bank loan etc. to extract their KYC documents which were then used for creation of fake / shell firms / companies without their knowledge and consent. In some cases, KYCs were used with the knowledge of the concerned person by paying them small pecuniary benefits. 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.
In order to tackle the menace of GST evasion, the 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. Overall in FY2023-24, 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.
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NB/VM/KMN
