Page 3 - Tax Evasion

GST intel unit detected over Rs 1.98 trn worth tax evasion cases in 2023

The GST intelligence unit detected tax evasion of more than Rs 1.98 lakh crore last year and arrested 140 masterminds who were involved in defrauding the exchequer, the finance ministry said on Thursday. In 2023, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) detected significant GST evasion in diverse sectors like online gaming, casinos, insurance and secondment (import of manpower services). "DGGI has achieved an increase in detection of cases of evasion and voluntary payments. In 2023, DGGI detected 6,323 cases involving evasion of duty of Rs 1,98,324 crore with a voluntary payment of Rs 28,362 crore. 140 masterminds involved in GST evasion were arrested," the ministry said in a statement. This is a significant improvement as compared to 2022 wherein 4,273 cases were detected, amounting to duty of Rs 90,499 crore, and voluntary payment of Rs 22,459 crore and 97 arrests were made. There was a 119 per cent increase in the year-on-year amount of duty evasion detected by DGGI an

Disgraced ex-IMF chief Rodrigo Rato goes on trial for tax evasion

The credit card case sparked widespread anger at a time when Spain was recovering from years of recession and a banking crisis partly triggered by Bankia's massive bailout

GST evasion of Rs 345 cr detected against lottery distributors till Nov '23

A total of 12 cases of GST evasion involving Rs 345 crore have been detected against lottery distributors since July 2017, Parliament was informed on Monday. Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad in a written reply to the Lok Sabha said Rs 622 crore, including interest and penalty, have been recovered from lottery distributors from July 2017 till November 2023. "Twelve cases involving GST evasion of Rs 344.57 crore have been detected against lottery distributors and Rs 621.56 crore (including interest and penalty) has been recovered/realized from July 2017 to till November 2023," Karad said. Karad further said the Finance Ministry had received a reference from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for comments regarding disbursement of prize amount of lotteries through formal banking channel. "Comments in this regard have been sent to MHA. Using formal banking channel for any kind of transaction, including disbursement of lottery prize, is helpful in mitigating the associated mo

21,791 fake GST registrations, tax evasion of Rs 24,000 cr detected: FM

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said GST officers have detected 21,791 fake GST registrations and over Rs 24,000 crore of suspected tax evasion during a two-month-long special drive. In a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha, the minister said to safeguard the interest of honest taxpayers and avoid extreme hardship to taxpayers, instructions have been issued from time to time, directing officers to exercise due caution and care in the exercise of powers such as summons, provisional attachment of property, blocking of tax credit etc. "A total of 21,791 entities (11,392 entities pertaining to state tax jurisdiction and 10,399 entities pertaining to CBIC jurisdiction) having GST registration were discovered to be non-existent. An amount of Rs 24,010 crore (state - Rs 8,805 crore + Centre - Rs 15,205 crore) of suspected tax evasion was detected during the special drive," Sitharaman said. The minister was replying to a question on the number of entities identified as

Calcutta HC quashes penalty order on e-way bill that expired in 9 hours

Authorities could not prove that petitioner intended to evade tax, says court

No FIR filed against Chairman Pawan Munjal, says Hero MotoCorp

It may also be noted that while the complainant has mentioned company officials, however, no official has been named in the FIR, the company said

I-T dept suspects Rs 800 crore tax evasion after 3-day raids on Azam Khan

The Income Tax department suspected a tax evasion of more than Rs 800 crore by senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan after it conducted raids on him and people associated with him for three days, official sources said on Friday. Income tax sleuths who reached Khan's residence on Jail Road in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh at 7 am on Wednesday completed their search Friday evening. After the officials left his residence around 7 pm on Friday, Khan came out and said, "It was a raid of I-T department. They stayed here for three days. They conducted searches and asked questions." Khan refused to answer further questions. On September 13, the Income Tax department conducted raids at more than 30 premises in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh as part of a tax evasion probe against Khan. Official sources said the department has conducted raids in Rampur, Saharanpur, Lucknow, Ghaziabad and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh apart from some premises in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. In Ghaziabad, the Income T

Adani scam exposed role of tax havens in hiding regulatory violations: Cong

The Congress on Thursday alleged that the "Adani scam" has exposed the role tax havens play in hiding large-scale violation of Indian laws, and said the issue should have discussed at the recent G20 Summit. It also said that if a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe is ordered into the allegations against the Adani Group, it will have to make sure that any loopholes for round-tripping and money-laundering are effectively shut. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the rise in Indian outward direct investment in the past 25 years has been a sign of deepening globalisation. "However, it is disturbing that offshore tax havens like Bermuda, Jersey and Cyprus rank among the top 10 destinations for Indian investment, according to the RBI," he said. This is in addition to Mauritius that has long been suspected as a preferred destination for Indian money-laundering and round-tripping, the Congress leader noted. "The Adani MegaScam has exposed the critical role

FirstCry founder Maheshwari probed for alleged $50 million tax evasion

At least six investors in FirstCry, including private equity firm ChrysCapital Management Co and Sunil Bharti Mittal's family office, have also received enquiries related to the matter

Chinese carmaker BYD faces investigation for underpaying tax in India: Rpt

India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has alleged that China's largest electric vehicle (EV) maker, underpaid tax of Rs 73 crore ($9 million)

Tax officials unearth Rs 19,492 crore GST evasion via special drive

The department learnt to have detained 7-10 alleged beneficiaries of fake tax claims

G20 FMs discuss ways to improve tax transparency, anti-evasion measures

G20 finance ministers on Tuesday discussed strategies to implement strategies for overhauling the global tax norms to ensure that multinational companies pay taxes wherever they operate. The two-day G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting being held under India's Presidency also discussed ways to help low and middle income countries reeling under huge debt burden. The meeting being chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman invited views on the way forward in international taxation with regard to implementation of measures to check tax evasion. "Finance Ministers and Governors were also invited to discuss strategies for capacity building to support implementation of 'Two Pillar Solution' and enhancing global #taxtransparency under #G20India Presidency," the Finance Ministry tweeted. The proposed two-pillar solution consists of two components, including re-allocation of multinational companies' additional share of profit to the market jurisdictions where they ..

TMS Ep475: Online gaming, Triumph-Harley vs Enfield, markets, tax havens

Can online gaming survive the GST sucker punch? Can Triumph and Harley take on Royal Enfield? What should investors do in case they missed the market rally? What are tax havens? All answers here

Tax havens: What are they, and which are the top tax havens in the world?

In 2016, a report by Citizen for Tax Justice stated that over 370 companies out of Fortune 500 operate subsidiaries in tax haven nations

I-T dept launches tax-evasion probe against social media influencers

The income-tax department has launched a probe against certain social media influencers and content creators on platforms like YouTube and Instagram for allegedly not showing their income and profits commensurate with their earnings, official sources said on Thursday. The department initiated the action last week after it searched about 10 YouTubers and other social media influencers -- mostly young artistes and actors -- in Kerala. The sources said a "data analytics" investigation undertaken by the department found out that these social media influencers and online content creators are making "substantial" earnings but either not showing or under-reporting it in their income tax returns (ITRs) or filings, largely due to ignorance of tax laws. Social media influencers and online content creators are those who have the power to address online and affect their audiences' purchasing decisions or opinions about a product, service, brand or experience because of their authority, knowledg

6 years of GST: Rs 1.5 trn monthly tax revenues becomes 'new normal'

Six years after the rollout of the biggest indirect tax reform in India, Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue of Rs 1.5 lakh crore every month has become a new normal and tax officers are focusing on dealing with fraudsters who are adopting newer modus operandi to game the system, causing loss to the exchequer. To apprehend black sheep, who operate as syndicates and create fake entities on the basis of forged documents to claim input tax credit (ITC), tax officers have started using data analytics, artifical intelligence and machine learning aiming to curb evasion, which was over Rs 3 lakh crore since inception of GST. It was over Rs 1 lakh crore in 2022-23. Thinktank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said the most critical pending GST reform is upgradation of GST Network to prevent fake supplies and fraudulent claims of Input Tax Credit (ITC). Data analysis and physical checks alone cannot completely solve the problem. The GSTN should enable linking of invoice level informati

Shell cos to fake invoice: How firms trying to evade GST are getting caught

DGGI has unearthed number of modus operandi by which tax evasion has been done in the recent past

I-T dept sends queries to NRIs about big, unexplained transactions

Govt officials aware of the matter said that the I-T department was taking cues from its 'insight' database to gather information on these individuals

GST evasion carried out through 4,909 bogus establishments: Tax official

Authorities have detected GST evasion to the tune of more than Rs 8,100 crore and it has been found that the offence was carried out through 4,909 bogus business establishments spread in parts of the country, a tax official from Madhya Pradesh said on Wednesday. MP Commercial Tax Commissioner Lokesh Kumar Jatav said the state Goods and Services Tax (GST) Department got the initial clues of this big tax evasion during a month-long investigation of e-way bills of an establishment in Indore. "On a detailed analysis and scrutiny of the data, a total of 4,909 suspicious business establishments were found across the country. Of these, a maximum of 1,888 establishments are in Delhi, 831 in Uttar Pradesh, 474 in Haryana, 210 in Tamil Nadu, 201 in Maharashtra, 167 in Telangana and 139 in Madhya Pradesh," he said. Jatav said that these 4,909 establishments under investigation showed a turnover of about Rs 29,000 crore in GST returns during the financial years 2021-22 and 2022-23 and the ...

GST evasion of Rs 30,000 crore using stolen IDs across 16 states uncovered

The beneficiaries of several government schemes, including PM Kisan, were using the stolen identities to operate 4,000 shell companies and 16,000 fake GST registrations