Bizmen meet GST officials over rising tax evasion

Ludhiana, July 9

Punjab is fast becoming a state with the highest tax evasion rates in the country with numerous criminals involved in bogus billing worth billions of dollars being apprehended on a daily basis. Besides bogus billing, bill swapping is in full swing, with traders selling their bills to other parties and not giving them to the customers.

The Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations (FOPSIA) has been campaigning against bogus billing, and the government has now acknowledged that GST theft happens on a large scale in the state. In this regard, the organisation recently held a meeting with state GST department officials in Patiala, presided over by the Additional Taxation Commissioner.

Badish Jindal, president, FOPSIA, stated that department officials admitted the government was not receiving as much GST as it should. According to department officials, the state government has formed a high-level investigation committee into the FOPSIA tax evasion report, with senior department officials serving as its members.

“We had objections to two members on the committee, so we proposed replacing them for a transparent inquiry report,” said Jindal.

Following the meeting, it became clear that a lack of staff in the department and the Central Board Of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) providing numbers without verification are among the main reasons behind bogus billing, he added.

Jindal added that Central GST Principal Commissioner Vikas Kumar had admitted that complaints about bogus billing due to registration without verification were coming in from all over the country. Reportedly, the Union Government is currently implementing a biometric system that will significantly reduce such complaints. He also stated that whenever the Taxation Commissionerate receives information about such bogus companies, their registrations are immediately cancelled.