Uttarakhand : Construction company raided in Dehradun, theft worth Rs 5.60 crore caught; In 15 months, the contractors cost the government crores
The Doon unit of the Special Research Wing of the State Tax Department (SGST) on Friday raided the office of a construction company located at Restcamp. Tax evasion of 5.60 crore was caught during the investigation. The Special Research Wing of State Tax is verifying the payments being made to the contractors from the government departments. During this it was found that Doon Infrastructure was depositing less than the actual tax. Discrepancies were noticed in the payments received by the firm from government departments, tax payable thereon and tax actually deposited in the last five years.
After this, on the basis of the search warrant on Friday, the firm’s office was raided. The investigation team included Deputy Commissioner of Special Research Branch Yashpal Singh, Assistant Commissioner Jaideep Singh Rawat and Inspector Sangeeta Bijalvan. The firm deposited GST of about one crore 62 lakh rupees by accepting less tax. Action is going on to deposit the remaining amount of about four crores.
Deputy Commissioner Yashpal Singh said that there was no system to deduct TDS of contractors at the time of implementation of GST. This arrangement came into force in October 2018. Taking advantage of this, many contractors did not deposit the GST within the time period of 15 months, not disclosing the amount received from the government departments. Investigation of such cases is going on. More cases will be revealed soon.
The contractors cost the government crores in 15 months
The contractors took full advantage of the absence of TDS deduction in the first 15 months of the implementation of GST. Government tax collection is estimated to be worth crores during this time period. Sources say that if there is a thorough investigation, hundreds of contractors can be caught. According to GST officials, TDS is deducted on the payment of small and big contractors contracted with the government.
Based on the TDS data, the tax department calculates the GST on the firm concerned. Apart from this, the department does not have any other means. When GST was implemented in July 2017, initially there was no system of deducting TDS for the contractors. This system came into force in October 2018, meanwhile, in 15 months, the game of GST evasion went on. Sources reveal that this includes small to large firms.
In small firms only 10-20 lakh cases can be caught. In large firms, this amount can reach into crores. However, the state tax team is investigating. The action taken in Doon on Friday is also a part of this investigation. Not only this, many businessmen are also taking tax as ITC on goods purchased for personal use like cars etc. Such cases are also under investigation. On the other hand, Deputy Commissioner Yashpal Singh said that the investigation is going on in the firms which have deposited tax less than the actual.
