Service tax evasion of Rs 9,800-cr detected in April-December '12

NEW DELHI: Tax officials detected service tax evasion of about Rs 9,800 crore in April-December, 2013, a senior Central Board of Excise and Customs official said. "Of the Rs 9,800-crore, about Rs 2,000 crore have been recovered," Lipika Majumdar Roy Choudhury, member, service tax, CBEC, the apex indirect taxes body, said on Friday.

She said a number of service providers were collecting service tax from their customers but not depositing it with the government and warned that the department would look at initiating tough measures against such evaders including prosecution. The department is making efforts to recover the balance, she added.

Revenue secretary Sumit Bose had issued a similar warning in the begining of the calender saying that such service providers will be liable to pay tax alongwith penalty.

"Let me warn them that all such service providers will not only be liable to pay the service tax along with interest and penalty, which may be equal to service tax evaded, but they can also be prosecuted for these offences," he had said on January 2.