Crackdown on fraudulent ITC availment continues: 258 arrested so far

Eight chartered accountants 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, department of revenue sources said.

DGGI sources said that out of the 258 arrested so far, at least two persons have been booked under COFEPOSA or Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act also. The ongoing drive by GST intelligence and CGST authorities is ongoing with more than 2500 case booked against 8000 fake GSTIN entities as of now.

Authorities have recovered more than Rs 820 crore from these fraudsters. Using complete data sharing among GST, customs and income tax, and apt use of data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, 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.


This concerted nationwide drive against bogus GST invoice fraud has ensured better GST compliance to identify tax evaders and those availing input tax credits fraudulently, and thus, has resulted in record GST collection to the tune of more than Rs 1.15 lakh crore for December, 2020.