NE BUSINESS BUREAU
COIMBATORE, JUNE 30
The officials of the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, Zonal Unit, Coimbatore, under Trichy Regional Unit, has arrested one person in a case related to availing of and passing on fake input tax credit (ITC) worth Rs 83 crore.
The mastermind, a Chartered Accountant, who had floated and controlled the group of bogus firms was placed under arrest and produced for judicial custody as the investigations are in a crucial stage.
An official press release said the officials conducted search operations on Monday across Chennai, Tirupur and Virudhunagar in Tamil Nadu, on intelligence that they indulged in availing of and passing on fake input tax credit without actual supply or receipt of goods.
Department of Revenue (DoR) sources acknowledged that with complete data sharing among GST, customs and income tax, and apt use of data analytics and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, the GST intelligence authorities have been able to pin-pointedly identify those indulged in tax evasion through various means, including fake bills and also those availing these bills through layers of intermediaries.
The searches conducted led to the seizure of various documents and data both in physical and digital forms. The available evidence recovered and the statements recorded from various persons indicated that the group of firms floated and controlled by a Chartered Accountant had issued invoices without supply of goods and the total ineligible ITC passed on amounted to Rs 83 crores in preliminary verification.
The auditing office of the mastermind has been declared as the place of business for a number of fake firms without any actual business being carried out from there. Further, no business activity was found to be carried out from most of the other addresses where these firms are registered. Preliminary investigation revealed that the chartered accountant, through his office staffs was found to be issuing fake invoices among the firms floated and controlled by him and also to the end users without any actual supply of goods or services and passed on ineligible ITC amounting to Rs 83 crores (approximately).
Further investigation is underway.
