Under the new GST regime, the Government has detected an evasion of Rs 12,000 crore in 8 months till November, a senior tax official said.
According to Mr. John Joseph, the Member, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) said that despite the electronic way or E-way bill mechanism there has been rampant evasion and there is a need to increase compliance.
“We started anti-evasion measures from April onwards, and from April-November we have detected Rs 12,000 crore of GST evasion. This is huge compared to what happened in central excise or service tax side. There is huge evasion. There are smarter guys outside who knows how to pocket the money,” Joseph said addressing an Assocham event.
Joseph, who looks after the investigation in the CBIC, said almost Rs 8,000 crore worth GST evasion has been recovered by the tax officials.
“We need to improve compliance mechanism.” On industry concerns as to whether a change in government might lead to an overhaul of the GST process, Joseph said.
“With all the apprehensions that you have, whether the election results are going to be bad for the GST or not, I can tell you very clearly that the same politicians whether in opposition or ruling party, they all came together to conceive this,” he added.
“There may be some changes in law, some procedural changes can definitely happen, but it will not be the lock, stock, and barrel as in the case of Malaysia.” He said the GST Council, comprising the Centre and states, had taken all decision relating to the new indirect tax regime.
The CBIC member also said the new GST return forms will have a beta version initially so that industry has enough time to suggest what could be done to improve the quality of returns.
Last day, the CBIC has notified that the annual return forms will be available in the portal by January only.
