The Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) has claimed that it has unearthed over 9,000 fake GST Identity Numbers (GSTIN).
The authorities had initiated a drive in opposition to fake identification numbers within the second week of November. “As on February 13, the Department has made 3,046 circumstances and unearthed about 9,294 fake GSTINs,” M Ajit Kumar, Chairman of CBIC, stated in a communication to the Department.
GSTIN is a 15-digits distinctive alphanumeric identification assigned to every registered assessee. First two digits characterize the code of State (every State and UT has been assigned a code like 07 for Delhi, 33 for Tamil Nadu, 28 for Andhra Pradesh and so). Next comes the 10-digits alphanumeric mixture which is PAN (ABCDE1234F). The thirteenth digit is predicated on the variety of registration in a specific State. The 14th digit is Z by default whereas fifteenth digit is checksum digit which could be a quantity or letter.
Undue benefit
Kumar stated the current motion and outcome confirmed that sure unscrupulous components have tried to take undue benefit of the legal guidelines, procedures and decreased compliance measures designed for trustworthy taxpayers underneath the GST regime to additional their very own revenue at the price of the nation. This, “aside from having a huge effect on income, additionally places the trustworthy taxpayer at an incredible drawback in a extremely aggressive market place,” he stated.
Under the GST regime, Section 31 of the CGST Act, 2017 mandates the issuance of an bill or a invoice of provide for each provide of products or providers (besides if the worth of the provision is much less than ₹200, topic to specified circumstances). There isn’t any format prescribed for an bill. However, bill guidelines make it obligatory for an bill to have the identify, deal with and GSTIN of the provider, amongst different issues.
One can examine the genuineness of GSTIN by going to a portal (https://www.gst.gov.in) and on the lookout for the taxpayer. There he can punch within the GSTIN/UIN (distinctive identification quantity) after which particulars comparable to identify, deal with and date of final 10 returns filed will seem. Apart from the identify and deal with, even when return filings are irregular or no return is filed, one can say that the given GSTIN is fake.
Rajat Mohan, Senior Partner with AMRG & Associates, stated the fake GSTIN menace has reached an all-time excessive. Other than severely impacting tax collections, it additionally pushes the federal government to introduce deterrents within the tax regime creating unease of doing enterprise for all of the taxpayers.
“Online tax matching, cost of 1 per cent tax in money, restrict of 5 per cent on ITC, strengthening of penalty proceedings, rampant searches and seizures, Aadhaar authentication, bodily verification on the time of registration are among the broad adjustments launched within the tax regime to regulate tax evasion,” he stated.
Identification of fake GSTIN was a frightening job up to now. However, with AI and massive knowledge analytics it has change into easy. “Fake GSTIN may very well be particularly recognized utilizing massive knowledge analytics and connecting quite a few knowledge factors obtainable with the federal government, which incorporates data obtainable with GSTN, Income Tax Department, MCA, transport authority, FASTAG, on-line funds in pockets and so forth,” Mohan stated.
