The authorities at the Directorate General of GST Intelligence have detected an overall goods and services tax evasion amounting to Rs 1.36 lakh crore in the ongoing fiscal.
It has received voluntary payment of Rs 14,108 crore so far, according to a government release on Wednesday.
The charges, including fraudulent input tax credit claims, are said to have been unearthed as part of the DGGI's special drive, which was initiated against the fake input tax credit, so as to plug the leakages in the government revenue. As part of the drive, the team looked at cases from November 2020, the release said.
"From April 2020 to September 2023, more than 6,000 fake ITC cases involving more than Rs 57,000 crore GST evasion has been detected and a total of 500 persons have been arrested," it said.
In fiscal 2023, authorities have noted 1,040 fake ITC cases, involving GST evasion of Rs 14,000 crore. Ninety one persons have been apprehended till date in connection with the same.
"Since June 2023, DGGI has laid special emphasis to identify and apprehend the masterminds and disrupting syndicates operating across the country. Cases have been unravelled using data analysis aided by advanced technical tools which has led to the arrest of tax evaders," the release said.
The mode of operation for claiming the fake ITC highlighted by the department includes stealing Know-Your-Customer documents through the ruse of a job, commission, bank loan, etc., and using them to create shell companies. The department found that in some cases, KYC documents were used with the knowledge of the concerned persons by paying them small pecuniary benefits.
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