Anti Evasion Wing of GST Arrests an Mumbai Exporter for GST Fraud

An exporter has been arrested by the anti-evasion wing of the Central Goods and Services Tax (GST), Mumbai West unit for allegedly availing fake Input Tax Credit (ITC) by forming nine companies in which the proprietors were his office boys or peons.

The ITC is an option in the GST which allows the taxpayers to claim credit for the taxes paid on the purchase. The unit arrested Santosh Kumar Singh, 40, in this connection. “Singh been operating nine export companies and 44 companies created primarily to issue fake invoices involving huge amounts of ITC without physical movement of goods and consequently fraudulently claiming refund of ITC credit and drawback,” the unit stated on Tuesday.

The investigation revealed that export companies were created for claiming fraudulent ITC. “Nine such companies were identified which revealed that these were created in the name of office boys/peons using their PAN cards and Aadhar cards. They were promised loan sanction in their account. These office boys/peons were not aware of the activities of the companies in which they were proprietors and were paid a fixed monthly salary of Rs.10,000,” the unit stated.