Lok Sabha Question No. 1373 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-19
Subject: GST Fraud
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Su Thirunavukkarasar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1373 TO BE ANSWERED ON

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2020/BHADRAPADA 28, 1942 (SAKA)

## 'GST Fraud'

## 1373. SHRI THIRUNAVUKKARASAR SU:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:-

- (a) whether the Government has recently detected Goods and Service Tax (GST) fraud worth Rs.350 crore against unidentified exporters;
- (b) if so; the details thereof;
- (c) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  the  problem  of  traders  in  filing their GST returns;
- (d) whether the targets fixed for GST collection have been increased; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN MINISTRY OF FINANCE (SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)

- (a)  &  (b) Yes,  Sir.  The  details  of  the  cases  booked  against  exporters  for  fraudulent claim of refund during the period July, 2017 to August, 2020 are as under:
- (c) The  following  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  the problems of traders in filing their GST returns:
- i. The facility of using SMS services for filing NIL return in FORM GSTR-3B and NIL details of outward supplies in FORM GSTR-1 without logging to the GST Portal has been made available.

|   No. of cases |   Quantum [Rs. Crore] |   Recovery [Rs. Crore] |   Arrest [Nos.] |
|----------------|-----------------------|------------------------|-----------------|
|            906 |               2551.15 |                 293.05 |              38 |

- ii. Rule  26(1)  of  the  CGST  Rules,  2017  has  been  amended  so  as  to  provide  an additional facility (in addition to Digital Signature Certificate) to verify returns filed in FORM GSTR-3B through electronic verification code (EVC) during the period from 21.04.2020 to 30.06.2020.
- iii. No late fees shall be levied for delayed furnishing of FORM GSTR-3B by:
3.  Taxpayers with turnover of more than Rs. 5 crore in the preceding F.Y. if they furnish the returns for the months of February, 2020 to April, 2020 on or before 24.06.2020;
4.  Taxpayers with turnover up to Rs. 5 crores in the preceding F.Y. if they furnish the returns, as follows:
- iv. The amount of late fee payable has been capped at Rs.500/- for each return for the  tax  period  from  February,  2020  to  July,  2020,  if  these  returns  are furnished by 30.06.2020. Further, late fees shall be NIL if the tax liability is zero for any of these tax periods.
- v. Late fee for delay in furnishing outward statement in FORM GSTR-1 has been waived for tax periods for months from March, 2020 to June, 2020 for monthly filers and for quarters from January, 2020 to June, 2020 for quarterly filers.

| Month (Year -2020)   | Category 1 States (Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana or Andhra Pradesh or the Union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep)   | Category 2 States (Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand or Odisha or the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Chandigarh and Delhi)   |
|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| February             | 30 th June                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              | 30 th June                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| March                | 3 rd July                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | 5 th July                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| April                | 6 th July                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               | 9 th July                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| May                  | 12 th September                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 15 th September                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| June                 | 23 rd September                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 25 th September                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| July                 | 27 th September                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         | 29 th September                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |

- vi. The format of annual returns and reconciliation statement has been simplified.
- vii. The filing of annual return for F.Y. 2017-18 and F.Y. 2018-19 has been made optional for taxpayers with an aggregate turnover of upto Rs. 2 crores and who have not filed the said return before the due date. For F.Y. 2018-19, the filing of  FORM  GSTR-9C  has  been  made  optional  for  taxpayers  having  annual turnover upto Rs. 5 crores.
- viii. For composition taxpayers:
4.  Due  date  for  furnishing  FORM  GSTR-4  for  F.Y  2019-20  has  been extended till 31.10.2020;
5.  Due date for  payment  of  tax  in  FORM  CMP-08  for  last  quarter  of  F.Y. 2019-20 has been extended till 07.07.2020;
6.  The  last  date  for  opting  for  composition  scheme  for  F.Y.  2020-21  has been extended till 30.06.2020.
7. (d) & (e) The  details  of  GST  revenue  collection  and  targets  (RE/BE)  during  F.Y. 2017-18, F.Y 2018-19, F.Y. 2019-20 and F.Y. 2020-21 (April - August) as per CCA are follows:

(Rs. In Crore)

| Tax Head              | 2017-18   | 2017-18   | 2018-19   | 2018-19   | 2019-20   | 2019-20   | 2020-21   | 2020-21              |
|-----------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|----------------------|
|                       | RE        | Actual    | RE        | Actual    | RE        | Actual    | BE        | Actual (Provisional) |
| CGST                  | 221400    | 203261    | 503900    | 457534    | 514000    | 494070    | 580000    | 125308               |
| IGST                  | 161900    | 176688    | 50000     | 28945     | -         | 9204      | -         | 27580                |
| GST Compensation Cess | 61331     | 62612     | 90000     | 95081     | 98327     | 95551     | 110500    | 28163                |
| Net                   | 444631    | 442561    | 643900    | 581559    | 612327    | 598825    | 690500    | 181051               |

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