Businessmen Meet GST Officials to Address Rising Tax Evasion
Punjab is emerging as a state with one of the highest tax evasion rates in India, with authorities apprehending numerous criminals involved in bogus billing worth billions of dollars daily. Besides bogus billing, bill swapping is rampant, where traders sell their bills to other parties instead of giving them to customers.
The Federation of Punjab Small Industries Associations (FOPSIA) has been actively campaigning against bogus billing. The government has acknowledged that GST theft occurs on a large scale in the state. Recently, FOPSIA held a meeting with state GST department officials in Patiala, chaired by the Additional Taxation Commissioner.
Government's Response and Investigation
The president of FOPSIA revealed that department officials admitted the government was not receiving as much GST revenue as expected. In response, the state government has formed a high-level investigation committee to address the FOPSIA tax evasion report, with senior department officials as members. FOPSIA raised objections to two committee members, proposing their replacement to ensure a transparent inquiry.
