TLI Staff
New Delhi: With over half a dozen chartered accountants (CAs) found to be part of GST fraud racket, the government has asked regulator Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to take action against the professionals indulging in accounting jugglery.
“Eight CAs are among 258 persons arrested so far in the nationwide drive against fake GST invoice frauds in last two and a half months since mid-November, 2020. The ICAI has been asked to take appropriate actions as per their own rules,” official sources said.
Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) sources said that the eighth CA was arrested yesterday along with his four business accomplices in Jaipur for operating 25 fake firms to fraudulently avail and pass on input tax credit (ITC) through bogus invoices without actual supplies of goods or services.
The ongoing drive by GST intelligence and CGST authorities has resulted in more than 2500 cases booked against 8,000 fake GSTIN entities as of now. Authorities have recovered more than Rs 820 crore from these fraudsters.
The official sources said that the fraudsters were caught for financial engineering with the help of data analytics. The GST intelligence authorities have been able to pin-pointedly identify those indulged in tax evasion through various means including fake bills and also those availing these bills through layers of intermediaries.
“It is through such systemic changes, the department has now been able to take targeted actions against fraudsters and tax evaders,” the sources said.
The higher GST collection in the month of December was partly attributed to the crackdown on GST evaders. In an official statement, the government had earlier this month said that it made record collection of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in the month of December.