On Monday (August 11, 2025), parliament was informed that in Karnataka, Central GST officers detected tax evasion of ₹39,577 crore in the 2024-25 fiscal year, an over 5-fold jump from the year-ago period.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha, said, “Central GST authorities have not issued any notices based on UPI transactions”.
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For the question of whether the government has issued GST notices to small traders and street vendors in the country, including Karnataka, without assessment of their business activities, the Minister was answering.
In the previous month, disproportionately high GST notices were received by various small traders and shopkeepers in Bengaluru, Karnataka, mainly based on digital footprints, like UPI transactions. State GST field offices sent the notices.
Ms. Sitharaman, on another question of GST evasion detected in Karnataka, shows the data of the cases by the Central Tax formations of the state.
CGST officers in 2024-25 detected 1,254 cases involving ₹39,577 crore of Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion. Nine persons were arrested, and ₹1,623 crore voluntary payments were made.
The detected amount by CGST officers in FY25 was more than 5 times that of FY24.
925 cases were detected involving ₹7,202 crore evasion in 2023-24. Two persons were arrested, and Rs 1,197 crore was recovered via voluntary payment of tax.
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CGST officers in 2022-23 detected 959 cases involving ₹25,839 crore tax evasion. Two persons were arrested, and a Rs 1,705 crore voluntary tax payment was made.
