GST Special Drive: Fake GST Registrations of more than 4,900 canceled so far; Drive to run till July 15

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) officials have so far cancelled over 4,900 bogus GST registrations as part of a nationwide drive. Furthermore, the campaign has discovered 17,000 GSTINs that do not exist, a senior tax official stated.

At the moment, around 1.40 crore firms or enterprises are registered under GST. Prior to the implementation of GST, this figure was half in the previous direct tax structure. A member of the Central Board of Direct Taxes and Customs (CBIC), stated that, as of July 4, field officers have picked over 69,600 GST Identification Numbers (GSTINs) for physical verification in the drive against fake registrations.

Over 59,000 GSTINs have been verified, while 16,989 are non-existent. More than 11,000 GSTINs have been suspended, and 4,972 registrations were cancelled out of these 69,600 GSTINs. In these cases, tax fraud of over Rs.15,000 crore was found, ITC of around Rs.1,506 crore has been blocked, and a tax refund of Rs.87 crore was realised, CBIC member told. Recovery has also take place.

The two-month special campaign to combat fake GST registration, which began on May 16, will conclude on July 15. Fake registration is a significant concern under GST, since fraudsters submit false bills or invoices in order to obtain ITC and cheat the government.