The Government has warned the use of fake invoices resulting in evasion of Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) and directed the officers to take strict measures to curb such practices.
Speaking on the second anniversary of the implementation of the goods and services tax, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur said the menace of fake invoice needs to be checked to ensure that honest taxpayers do not suffer and the government does not lose revenues.
“The government will take strict action against those involved in generating fake invoices. The menace of fake invoices needs to be checked as the actions of few unscrupulous traders make the majority of honest taxpayers uncompetitive and cause loss to government revenue. The government is “serious about curbing this menace”, he said.
“Therefore, I urge all GST authorities to remember at all times that as public servants, they serve the trade by being sensitive to their concerns and resolving their genuine difficulties in accordance with the law. It is only through this partnership that we can achieve the goal of ‘one nation, one market, one tax’,” he added.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday said GST officers have booked 535 cases of fake invoices involving a total fraudulent claim of Rs. 2,565 crore of input tax credit (ITC) and arrested 40 persons so far in the current financial year.
In 2018-19, 1,620 cases of fake invoices were registered involving fraudulent ITC claim of ₹11,251 crore under the GST. As many as 154 persons were arrested.
