GST Officers Detect Rs 35,132 Crore ITC Evasion By Over 17,000 Fake Firms

GST officers have detected cases of input tax credit or ITC evasion of Rs 35,132 crore by 17,818 fake firms between April-October and arrested 69 persons, the government informed Parliament on Monday.

In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said regular action is taken to detect fake firms through data analytics and other intelligence by the central and state authorities.

A coordinated special drive was launched between Aug. 16 and Oct. 30 to detect fake firms, according to the written reply from the minister.

"A total of 18,876 ITC fraud cases were detected involving 17,818 fake firms with suspected ITC evasion of Rs 35,132 crore during fiscal 2024-25 for April 2024-October 2024," Chaudhary said.

This has saved Rs 6,484 crore of which Rs 5,422 crore by blocking of ITC and Rs 1,062 crore by way of recovery, the minister noted.

A total of 69 arrests have been made in the cases during the current fiscal till October.

In his reply, the minister highlighted that, "As a measure to track down and take action against the masterminds, there are sufficiently deterring legal provisions in the CGST Act."

"National Conference of Enforcement Chiefs of State and Central GST Formations is held from time to time and till now two such Conferences have been held. Issues in respect of activities being undertaken by the enforcement formations and the importance of balancing enforcement actions with ease of doing business, were deliberated in the conference," stated Chaudhary.