Input tax credit racket of Rs 10 crore busted in Mumbai

Navi Mumbai CGST Commissionerate said on Thursday it has busted a racket of 15 fake entities involved in claiming input tax credit fraudulently to the tune of Rs 10.28 crore.

The Commissionerate has arrested a businessman, who is proprietor of M/s Maharashtra Enterprises, in this regard.

The fraudsters had generated the fake ITC by issuing bogus invoices of metal scrap without any receipt or supply of goods of more than Rs 57 crores. The network is spread in the cities of Mumbai, Aurangabad and Nasik, said Prabhat Kumar, Commissioner, CGST & C. Excise, Navi Mumbai Commissionerate, in a statement.

The accused firm is registered with GST for trading Ferrous Waste and Scrap; Remelting Scrap Ingots of Iron or Steel - Waste and Scrap of Cast Iron and was indulging in fraudulent availment and passing of Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 5.17 crore and Rs 5.11 crore respectively without receiving the goods or services, in violation of the provisions of the CGST Act, 2017.

The firms was availing fake ITC from the non-existing entities and passing on the same to other entities of this vicious network by defrauding the Government exchequer of its rightful GST revenue and causing unhealthy competition with honest taxpayers.

The accused was arrested on January 13, under Section 69 of CGST Act 2017 for contravention of Section 132 ibid and produced before the Judicial Magistrate First class, Vashi, who has remanded them to 14 days judicial custody.

This operation had been a part of large-scale operations launched by the CGST Mumbai Zone to stamp out the fake ITC networks which had been causing undue hardship to the honest taxpayers and defrauding the Government exchequer of its rightful taxes.

( With inputs from ANI )