Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities detected evasion worth Rs 14,302 crore in 2784 cases during April-May this year, which already accounts for nearly 11 per cent of the total GST evasion detected in the previous financial year. Evasion worth Rs 1.32 lakh crore was detected in 15,562 cases in the 2022-23 financial year, an increase of 44 per cent over the previous financial year, as per data shared by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in response to a question in Lok Sabha on Monday.
On the direct taxes front, Sitharaman stated 741 groups were searched and 1253 surveys were conducted in the financial year 2022-23, with total assets seized worth Rs 1765.56 crore. In the previous financial year of 2021-22, the tax department carried out 686 searches and 1046 surveys, with assets seized worth Rs 1159.59 crore.
“With the availability of information in electronic form, the Income Tax Department has developed a wide range of non-intrusive methods for detecting tax evasion. Some of the important measures include-Computer Assisted Scrutiny Selection (CASS) for selection of cases for Scrutiny; Non-filers Monitoring System (NMS) to prioritise action on non-filers; Income Tax Business Application (ITBA) to help in curbing tax evasion through putting in place end to end processes for all verticals of the Department etc. (b) Extensive use of information technology and data analytics tools also helps in identification of high-risk cases, expeditious e-verification of suspect cases and enforcement actions in appropriate cases,” Sitharaman said.
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Also, the GST department is taking a number of anti-evasion measures including using robust data analytics and artificial intelligence to identify and track risky taxpayers; sharing of data with partner law enforcement agencies for more targeted interventions; reduction in threshold limit for issue of e-invoice for B2B transactions from Rs 10 crore to Rs 5 crore from August 1, 2023, she said.
In terms of prosecution, the numbers are lower, with 387 prosecution complaints filed in 2022-23 and 195 filed in 2021-22, with the number of convicted persons at 69 and 11, respectively. Meanwhile, the tax department compounded 627 cases in 2022-23 and 468 cases in 2021-22.
Cumulatively in the last five years since 2018-19, the income tax department has conducted 3946 searches, 30,846 surveys and seized assets worth Rs 6,662.52 crore. A total of 5,493 prosecution complaints were filed by the tax department during the same period.
For GST evasion, a total Rs 2.68 lakh crore has been detected in 43,516 cases between 2020-21 and 2023-24 (April-May). A recovery of Rs 76,333 crore was made during the period while 1,020 persons were arrested, the reply stated. In the current fiscal (April-May), 2,784 cases of evasion of Rs 14,302 crore were detected. As many as 28 persons were arrested and Rs 5,716 crore recovered during the period.
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In the last four years, 42,754 cases of outright smuggling were detected by the Customs Department, worth Rs 46,000 crore. In the April-May period of the current fiscal, 2,986 cases of outright smuggling involving goods valued at Rs 1,031 crore were detected by the Customs department. About 12,259 cases of commercial fraud were also detected in the last four years, having duty implications of Rs 21,225 crore.