New Delhi: To curb fraud in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and enhance compliance, GST formations under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and the State/UT Governments nationwide are conducting a targeted campaign against non-existent/bogus registrations and the issuance of fake invoices without any underlying supply of goods and services.
Since the initiation of the special drive against fake registrations in mid-May 2023, a total of 29,273 bogus firms involved in suspected Input Tax Credit (ITC) evasion of Rs. 44,015 crore have been identified. This effort has saved Rs. 4,646 crore, with Rs. 3,802 crore blocked through the prevention of ITC and Rs. 844 crore recovered. As of now, 121 arrests have been made in these cases.
In the quarter ending December 2023, 4,153 bogus firms involved in suspected ITC evasion of around Rs. 12,036 crore were detected. Among these, 2,358 were identified by the Central GST Authorities. This action has safeguarded revenue of Rs. 1,317 crore, of which Rs. 319 crore has been realized, and Rs. 997 crore has been protected by blocking ITC. In these cases, 41 individuals have been arrested, with 31 of these arrests carried out by Central GST Authorities. State-wise details are attached.
The government has implemented various measures to strengthen the GST registration process. Pilot projects of biometric-based Aadhar authentication at the time of registration have been launched in the states of Gujarat, Puducherry, and Andhra Pradesh. Additionally, efforts have been made to curb tax evasion through measures such as sequential filing of GST returns, system-generated intimation for reconciliation of the gap in tax liability in GSTR-1 & GSTR-3B returns, and the gap between ITC available as per GSTR-2B & ITC availed in GSTR-3B returns, as well as the use of data analytics and risk parameters for detecting fake ITC, etc.