Hyderabad: In the biggest ever crackdown against the use of fake GST invoices to evade taxes, the GST intelligence authorities have so far arrested 258, including eight chartered accountants in the last two and a half months, according to sources in the department of revenue.
According to the sources in the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI), the eighth Chartered Accountant was arrested by tax officials from Jaipur on Saturday.
“The accused was operating 25 fake firms to fraudulently claim and pass the input tax credit (ITC) without actual supply of goods and services,” a source told ETV Bharat.
Officials said that out of the 258 arrested so far, at least two persons have been booked under COFEPOSA (Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act).
According to sources, in the ongoing nationwide drive, GST intelligence officials have so far booked more than 2,500 cases against 8,000 bogus GST number holders and recovered more than Rs 820 crores.
Officials have also informed the regulatory body, the Institute for Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), about the arrest of one more CA asking the ICAI to take appropriate action against the accused.
8 CAs arrested in fake GST bill drive
According to sources, while CA BS Gupta was arrested from Jaipur, CA Daulat S Mehta and CA Chandra Prakash Pandey were arrested from Mumbai. CA Lalit Prajapati was arrested from Ahmedabad, CA S Krishnakumar from Chennai, CA Nitin Jain from Delhi and CA B. Srinivasa Rao was arrested from Hyderabad while CA Ankur Garg was arrested from Ludhiana in Punjab.
READ: GST officers arrest one for operating 46 fake firms
They all were operating multiple non-existent firms and fake entities to dupe the exchequer with fraudulent ITC utilisation in connivance with fraudsters and fly-by-night operators, said the sources.
Use of Data Analytics, AI, Machine Learning
According to sources, with complete data sharing among GST, customs and income tax, and due to extensive use of Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the GST intelligence authorities have been able to pin-pointedly identify those indulging in tax evasion through various means including fake bills.
It is through such systemic changes, the department has now been able to take targeted actions against fraudsters and tax evaders, said a source in the revenue department.
“It is with these measures that the DGGI has not only been able to unearth the fake firms but also the final beneficiaries of ITC frauds, like in the ITC scam in manpower services allegedly by big companies like Swiggy, the food delivery chain and Instakart, a subsidiary of e-commerce giant Flipkart,” the source told ETV Bharat.
According to officials, the concerted nationwide drive against bogus GST invoice fraud has ensured better GST compliance resulting in record GST collection to the tune of more than Rs.1.15 lakh crore in December last year.
This has resulted in an increase in the number of GSTR 3B return filers to more than 87 lakh in the month of December, they said.
