Tax Evader arrested for generating Fake Input Tax Credit worth Rs.3.65 crore

In a joint operation, the Punjab Excise and Taxation Department and Fatehgarh Sahib police detained a person suspected of obtaining fake input tax credit (ITC) claims worth Rs 3.65 crore.

Punjab finance, planning, excise, and taxes minister Harpal Singh Cheema stated that the deputy commissioner, state tax, Ludhiana, served accused Deepak Sharma with a show cause notice under Section 74 of the GST Act on January 25, 2023, inquiring about a fake ITC claim of Rs.3.65 crore. However, Sharma did not pay the tax or respond in any way.

The adjudicating authority then issued an order on June 13, 2023, creating a demand of Rs.11.75 crore, which included Rs.4.45 crore in interest and Rs.3.65 crore in penalty, according to Cheema.

He went on to say that the authorities conducted an inquiry and discovered that Sharma had submitted a fraudulent GST registration certificate to a bank. The bank has suspended the account at the request of Fatehgarh Sahib’s sales tax officer, and a recovery notice for Rs.26 lakh has been submitted to the same bank, the minister stated.

The minister stated that a special task force formed by the SGST department, in collaboration with the Fatehgarh Sahib police, raided numerous places associated with the accused.