Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary informed the Lok Sabha that Central GST officers detected tax evasion of over ₹1.88 lakh crore between April and December 2024.
The evasion was comprised of matters of the bogus Input tax credit that was discovered across 72,393 cases in the period. The authorities incurred 132 arrests and recovered Rs 20,128 crore.
CGST officials for the financial year 2023-24 uncovered Rs 2.30 lakh crore in GST evasion across 20,582 cases which led to Rs 31,758 crore in recoveries and 223 arrests. Evasion in the earlier years stood at Rs 1.32 lakh crore in 2022-23 and ₹73,238 crore in 2021-22.
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Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a type of tax that has four main rates: 5%, 12%, 18%, and 28%. Some items have special tax rates. For example, there’s a 3% tax on gold, silver, and diamonds. Cut and polished diamonds have a lower tax rate of 1.5%, while rough diamonds are taxed at just 0.25%.
A GST compensation cess is applicable on specified items. CGST and state GST officers to curb fake registrations performed two special drives one from May to August 2023 and the other from August to October 2024.
The first drive found 21,808 bogus GST Identification Numbers (GSTINs), directing to the detection of ₹24,357 crore in tax evasion and eight arrests. The second drive recognized 68,393 fraudulent GSTINs, revealing ₹25,346 crore in tax evasion and resulting in 19 arrests.
