The commercial taxes department on Tuesday raided 35 commercial firms dealing with areca nut, iron and steel, edible oil and coal across Bihar and detected tax evasion worth ₹48.45 crore by way of claiming input tax credit (ITC) through fake invoices, people aware of the development said.
They said the raids revealed that out of 35 firms, 25 were bogus and working only on paper with the sole aim of claiming ITC through fake invoices and e-way bills. All the firms including those dealing with areca nut (supari) have done business transactions worth ₹574 crore in the last few years, officials said.
“The biggest revelation has been the detection of three bogus firms engaged in the trade of areca nut. Prima facie, it appears that these firms have been dealing with the illegal consignment of areca nut from northeastern states via West Bengal and sending it to various states across the country including Gujarat, UP and Maharashtra. These non-existent firms have been engaged in generating e-way bills and illegal bill trading,” said a senior tax officer, engaged in the raids. He said these firms seemed to be part of a syndicate of illegal bill trading.
“We have alerted customs about these firms and getting inputs from other agencies about the trade of areca nut from other states,” the official added.
Following the implementation of goods and services tax ( GST), the commercial tax department has detected the trend of tax evasion by non-existent business firms which apparently act as fronts for clandestine ferrying of goods and claiming ITC (the tax credit availed by the firms after receiving of goods and other conditions for furthering his business).
The department officials said these bogus firms come to light only when there is tracking through human intelligence and data analysis by the intelligence wing of the department.
“In recent weeks, we have unearthed a large number of fake firms and tracking their actual owner through mobile calls and tax receipts. All the operators of the fake firms would be facing heavy penalty and punitive action,” said another officer.
Commissioner cum secretary, commercial taxes department, Dr Pratima said eight firms were detected in today’s raids which failed to show proper book of records and engaged in wrongly claiming ITC. “We are working on revenue leakage and all those involved in clandestine trade would be facing action,” she said.
