Karnataka examined 11,914 cases of GST Fraud and discovered over Rs.1800 crore in Tax Evasion

The State government, which is presently second in terms of GST collection, will step up efforts to combat evasion, said Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday.

In response to a query from Congress member M. Nagaraj in the Legislative Council on behalf of Prakash Rathod, the Chief Minister stated that as of December 22, the State had examined 11,914 cases of GST fraud and discovered tax evasion totaling 1,819.94 crore. “A total of 648.85 crore has been collected, including 497.98 crore in tax, 19.34 crore in interest, and 131.53 crore in penalty. Efficiency of officials in our special vigilance squads and the use of technology made this possible,” the Chief Minister added.

Detailing the numerous modalities of GST evasion, the Chief Minister said, “It is being done through covert transactions, filing of input tax credit using fake paperwork, transportation of goods without valid documentation, and sales without bills.”

“Our vigilance squads have discovered commodities being transported to Delhi without paying any tax from Mangaluru port and have recovered nearly 1,000 crore,” he added, pointing out that the amount of arecanut transferred to other states escaping tax was greater than that sold in the state with tax.