GST Evasion of Rs.1.95 Lakh Crore detected by CGST Officers in FY25:

GST Evasion of Rs.1.95 Lakh Crore detected by CGST Officers in FY25 In a surprising development, Central GST officers discovered Rs.1.95 lakh crore in tax evasion in 25,397 cases between April and January of the current financial year, Parliament was informed on Monday. According to data given in the Lok Sabha, central government officers found 86,711 GST evasion cases during the last five years, totalling more than Rs.6.79 lakh crore. In the current the financial year (up to January 2025), there were 25,397 evasion cases found, totalling Rs.1,94,938 crore. At the same time, a voluntary deposit of Rs.21,520 crore was made in tax evasion instances. The current fiscal year saw 13,018 ITC fraud cases, totalling Rs.46,472 crore. During the same time period, Rs.2,211 crore was made as a voluntary deposit. According to GST Investigation Wing data, 20,582 evasion cases were found during the financial year 2023-24, totalling Rs.2.30 lakh crore. GST evasion detection cost Rs 1.32 lakh crore in the preceding year, 2022-23; Rs.73,238 crore in 2021-22; and Rs.49,384 crore in 2020-21. Pankaj Chaudhary, Minister of State for Finance, stated that the Central Government and GSTN have taken a variety of steps to improve compliance and prevent tax evasion, including providing intelligence inputs, detecting fraudulent registration and suspicious e-way bill activity, and selecting returns for scrutiny and taxpayers for audit based on various risk parameters. "These methods are effective in protecting revenue and apprehending evaders. Certain projects were also undertaken, such as 'Project Anveshan' (Analytics, Verification, Shortlisting of Anomalies), in which newer techniques such as Facial Recognition System (FRS), E-way bill data, and so on were used for early identification of GSTINs with a proclivity for fake/fraudulent activity in order to generate intelligence reports," Chaudhary added.