Over 180 arrested for tax evasion in past 2 months: Union Finance Secretary

In the last 1.5 to 2 months over 180 people including managing directors of companies and chartered accountants have been arrested for tax evasion, said Union Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey

In the last 1.5 to 2 months over 180 people including managing directors of companies and chartered accountants have been arrested for tax evasion, said Union Finance Secretary Dr Ajay Bhushan Pandey on Monday.

Speaking to ANI, Pandey said, "Now we have a software tool via which we have taken action against people with discrepancies in the record, after 2017. In the last 1.5 to 2 months, we have arrested over 180 people including managing directors of companies and chartered accountants for tax evasion."

They have not been able to get bails because of the seriousness of their tax frauds, the Finance Secretary stated.

"We have data from different agencies which is brought together and analyzed, using artificial intelligence. Earlier we used to take action against those having discrepancies in their record, based on the complaint which was not even true at times but now everything is information-based," he added.

Pandey further said that the GST collection hit record-high of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in the month of December is because our economy is on the path of recovery.

"Record-high GST collection of over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December is because our economy is on the path of recovery. We have brought many changes at the system level for better compliance," said Pandey.

"We are taking targeted action against those who have discrepancies in their record," he added.

Another reason being the changes made on system level, in the past few months, Pandey stated.

"We are trying that the honest taxpayer should not face any kind of issue while we are taking action against the people who are misusing our system, through a systematic process and data analytics. This might be another reason for record-high GST collection," said Pandey.

The Finance Secretary yesterday explained that higher GST collection is also the result of higher collection efficiency and the trend should continue in the coming months too.

He further said that in the nationwide drive, investigating agencies have unearthed about 7,000 companies indulged in GST evasion, besides arresting 187 unscrupulous persons which include managing directors, directors, proprietors, partners of firms, and five chartered accountants, and a company secretary.