BHUBANESWAR: The State CT and GST enforcement wing on Thursday raided 30 places across 14 districts where pan masala and other tobacco products are manufactured following allegations of tax evasion.
On a tip-off and recent interception of a few vehicles transporting tobacco products in a clandestine manner, the GST officials along with the police carried out raids in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Keonjhar, Rairangpur, Balasore, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Balangir, Rourkela, Bhawanipatna, Kesinga and Berhampur.
The GST officials are verifying the documents, computers, laptops, secret transaction details and also collecting stock details of the manufacturers/traders kept on their business premises and godowns for cross verification with the account books. They have seized the documents for further examination.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that these manufacturers/traders have paid a very negligible amount of tax on their sales despite having a huge purchase and sales turnover. The officers have been instructed to complete the investigation at the earliest,” said a GST official.
During the raids conducted earlier in jewellery and furniture outlets, the State GST officials had collected tax penalty and fine to the tune of `9.82 crores and `2.51 crore respectively and the amount was deposited with the government.