NEW DELHI: In a nationwide crackdown against tax evasion, GST officials booked 8,000 cases in ITC frauds worth Rs 35,000 crore during FY21, which helped it to improve GST collection. “During the financial year, 2020-21 the CGST zones and the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) have booked about 8,000 cases involving fake ITC of over Rs 35,000 crore.
During the financial year, 426 persons including 14 professionals such as CAs, lawyers and masterminds, beneficiaries, directors etc were arrested,” the Revenue department said in a statement. The ministry had launched a nationwide special drive against fake GST invoice scams on November 9, 2020, and is still ongoing. The ministry noted that the drive against fraudulent GST invoices slowed down over the past two three months due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and restrictions.
However, it has once again picked up pace with gradual lifting of lockdown and improved Covid-19 situation in different parts of the country, and the department has resumed efforts in coordinated action at national level.
“In this nationwide drive against unscrupulous entities, Directorate General of GST Intelligence and CGST zones under CBIC have during the current financial year detected more than 500 cases involving 1,200 entities and arresting 24 persons. The number of arrests made by officers of CBIC is one of the highest in recent times,” it said.
The ministry informed that CBIC officers are employing latest IT tools and digital evidence, as well as collecting information from other government departments to catch the fraudsters. It also warned that the crackdown will be intensified in the coming week.