Cartels set up 'briefcase' firms, defraud GST regime of thousands of crores

Fake companies are floated with the intention to fraudulently pass on input tax credit by issuing fake invoices without any supply of goods

Parliament was informed on Tuesday that 3,626 cases of tax evasion had been detected in the three quarters of FY19 under the goods and services tax (GST) regime. The total evasion in these cases works out to Rs 15,278 crore, of which Rs 9,959 crore has been recovered. 

This revelation comes after recent data indicated compliance under GST was declining. The percentage of taxpayers not filing returns rose from 15.44 per cent in April 2018 to 28.75 per cent in November 2018. Even among composition tax payers, the percentage of non-filers rose from 19.28 per cent in Q1FY19 to 25.37 per