Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 4: A staggering Rs 7.08 lakh crore in Goods and Services Tax (GST) evasion has been unearthed in over 91,000 cases investigated by tax authorities across the last five financial years, from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The data was presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday by Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary.

A large chunk of this evasion – Rs 1.79 lakh crore – stems from fraudulent Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims, detected in nearly 45,000 cases, signaling a persistent abuse of ITC provisions within the GST system.

Despite the scale of the fraud, over Rs 1.29 lakh crore was recovered voluntarily during this period.

The ongoing financial year (2024–25) alone has already witnessed Rs 2.23 lakh crore in tax evasion flagged by Central GST (CGST) field formations. Out of the 30,056 cases uncovered so far this year, 15,283 – more than half – were ITC-related, involving fraud of Rs 58,772 crore.

In the preceding year (2023–24), tax authorities discovered Rs 2.30 lakh crore in evasion, of which Rs 36,374 crore involved fake ITC claims. In 2022–23, the total GST evasion stood at Rs 1.32 lakh crore, with Rs 24,140 crore linked to ITC misuse.

Further back, in 2021–22, officials uncovered evasion worth Rs 73,238 crore, including Rs 28,022 crore in ITC fraud. And in 2020–21, GST evasion stood at Rs 49,384 crore, with Rs 31,233 crore attributed to ITC deception.

Minister Chaudhary noted that the Central GST collection so far in 2024–25 has achieved 96.7% of the revised estimates.

To tighten the net on evaders, the government has implemented a range of tech-driven initiatives. These include:

• E-invoicing and digitised systems
• Advanced analytics to detect anomalies and mismatches
• AI-based selection of returns for audit and scrutiny
• "Project Anveshan", which uses tools such as Facial Recognition Systems (FRS) and E-way bill analysis to proactively identify suspicious GSTINs likely to engage in fraud.

These steps, he said, are part of a broader strategy to safeguard public revenue and deter large-scale tax manipulation.

Officials stress that these efforts are beginning to yield results – but the scale of fraud highlights the need for continual vigilance and stronger enforcement mechanisms.