Resistance Against GST Raids Would Land Accused Behind Bars

Any resistance offered by an individual to IT department raids over tax evasions may result in prison time for the concerned person under scrutiny. Besides false claims of Input Tax Credit (ITC) amounting up to  Rs 2 crore will also attract jail time for the accused. This was confirmed by the Lucknow Commissioner of Commerce Kamini Ratan Chauhan.

Here are the key highlights from the Commissioner’s orders:

• An individual who opposes or distract s the raid official, would be fined as well as may be serving six months jail term.
• Raid officer will have to seek permission from the commerce tax commissioner for the same.
• Raid can be conducted if and only if authorized by the Joint Commissioner. Also, raids would not be conducted Suo Moto. Raids will be conducted only when backed by reliable information and tax evasion data.

Along with this, the merchant who took the ITC claim more than 2 crore rupees wrongfully will also be arrested. Police help will be taken for this. Officials have been instructed that action will be taken according to the rules in GST and only competent authorities will be authorized for this. No official will act arbitrarily.

Kamini Ratan Chauhan, further informed that the raid campaign would be targeted at those warehouse owners or similar operators who have stored or kept goods without paying the eligible tax on them. Moreover, the Commissioner also informed that utter negligence in tax submission, as well as failure to report on notice, will attract maximum penalty up to Rs 25,000.