CAG Questions GST Compliance Over Exposed to ITC Frauds

CAG GST Fraud Alert

This ‘One Nation One Tax’ regime was initiated for the first time in the nation on 1 July 2017 and has completed 2 years of existence. Even after two years, GST governance lacks a definite blueprint of input tax credit system (ITC) says CAG reports. Not only this, the digitized e-tax filing system is still a tedious task for the fillers, said reports on the desks of the Parliament. No doubt, GST was introduced in the nation with good intentions but now the system has become exposed to ITC frauds.

The current GST compliance arrangement cannot work without proper invoice matching procedures, auto-generation of refunds and tax assessments, etc. the initiative has to be taken by the concerned authority to alter the prevailing scenario of tax compliance in the country. The key players of the tax system such as Department of Revenue (DoR), Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) and GSTN must co-ordinate and bring GST tax compliance to proper functionality.

In a written statement, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur replied to the parliament saying, tax authorities have unveiled tax frauds worth Rs 45,682.83 crore under GST in last 2 years.

As per the data extracted from the government’s desk, Rs 6520.40 crore fraud was identified in the April to June period of the financial year 2019-20. In the last two years, the total number of 9,385 cases of GST frauds were brought to the limelight. 
GST rising under BJP-led governance is undoubtedly a promising tax structure, but it still needs more rigidity and applicability.