With tax evasion growing after the rollout of GST, the state government seems to have tightened the noose on evaders. With the increasing incidence of fake billing scams and tax evasion, action was initiated against some 17,229 persons in Gujarat in the past two years, according to data tabled in the state assembly during question hour.
Sources in the state GST department said these actions include arrest, cancellation of GST numbers and recovery of evaded taxes, among others.
From February 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023, tax collection in Gujarat stood at Rs 54,528.67 crore, a 25% increase from Rs 43,779.41 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, the figures show.
While tax mop-up is increasing in Gujarat, the extent of evasion is also increasing. Provisional data from the state goods and services tax (SGST) department shows that at least Rs 7,224 crore of fake billing was carried out during the year to evade taxes.
The SGST department in Gujarat recently unearthed a Rs 4,120 crore fake billing scam, involving 74 bogus firms in Ahmedabad and Surat. This had led to tax evasion of Rs 137 crore.
The state commercial tax department is taking measures such as raids, spot verification drives and using big data analytics to identify those fraudulently obtaining GST registration numbers.
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