The Directorate General of GST Intelligence crackdown on unscrupulous elements engaged in fake invoices to fraudulently avail themselves of GST input tax credit took place.

The government has launched a massive crackdown on GST evaders, initiating action against 7,000 entities including arrest of 187 -- a campaign that contributed to buoyancy in tax collection, Finance Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey said on Sunday. The government netted a record GST collection of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in December 2020, helped by the action against tax evaders alongside pick up in the economy.

Bhushan Pandey said action against fake invoicing racket in last one-and-a-half months has led to arrest of 187, including five chartered accountants and one company secretary. "Many of them including some managing directors are in jail for last 40-50 days. There are few large companies which too are found involved in taking fake bills through multiple layers, thereby evading GST and income tax. So they have also been booked," he said.

The action against those who try to misuse the system, he said, has been based on collating information from various agencies such as Income Tax Department, Customs unit, FIU and GST department and banks. "We have taken action against 7,000 evaders out of a tax base of 1.20 crore. Hence our success rate is very very high," said Pandey, who is also the Revenue Secretary.

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