GST Enforcement Team Raids Five Business Premises in Sribhumi Over Alleged Tax Evasion:

The GST Intelligence and Enforcement wing of Assam carried out search operations at five business establishments in Sribhumi district on Sunday, August 23, as part of an investigation into suspected tax evasion linked to the rubber trade.

The enforcement teams conducted searches at business premises in the Ratabari and Patharkandi areas. The establishments under scrutiny include Kazirbazar Rubber Enterprise, associated with Sabbir Ahmed; Safeway Solutions, linked to Shamim Ahmed; Ujala Traders, linked to Dilruba Begum; United Commercial, associated with Foyez Ahmed; and T&T Trading & Company, linked to Abu Tahir.

The businesses are suspected to have claimed fake or irregular Input Tax Credit (ITC) to reduce their GST liabilities, officials said. Officials went through financial records, transaction documents and other business papers to ascertain if any violation of GST provisions had taken place during the operation.

Sribhumi is a large rubber producing area and large quantities of raw rubber are sent to different parts of the country. Investigators are examining whether differential GST reporting and alleged misuse of ITC resulted in revenue loss to the government.

The operation was conducted under the leadership of Manuj Kr Dowari, Superintendent of State Tax, with assistance from Assam Police personnel. Officials are now scrutinising the records and transactions seized or examined during the searches to establish the total business turnover, the extent of allegedly wrongful ITC claims and the possible tax liability.

The exact amount of tax allegedly evaded, along with further details of the documents examined or recovered during the searches, is expected to emerge as the investigation progresses.