Using data intelligence, the department of state tax identified around 260 taxi operators who may have evaded paying the GST. The department issued notices to the taxi operators along with a demand for payment of GST, said sources. As part of a 3-month exercise, the department of state tax gathered data from the I-T department, regional transport office, banks and other agencies to identify businesses that were evading tax in the state.
“We found that many individuals running taxi businesses, rent-a-cab and rent-a-bike businesses have more than 10-12 vehicles, but are not paying any tax,” said the source.
Entities with an annual turnover of over Rs. 40 lakh for goods and Rs. 20 lakh for services are required to register for GST and pay taxes.
“We worked out that for anyone with more than 5-6 taxis, there turnover works out to Rs. 20 lakh. If this turnover is between April 1 to March 31 then within 31 days they should register for a GST number and pay tax,” said the official.
The department stumbled upon the tax evasion cases based on data collected from the RTO as part of a routine intelligence – gathering exercise. “Taking their names from the RTO and matching it with their PAN, we found out many are not registered and not paying GST. We are also taking data from the I-T department,” said the high-ranking official.
The department has already started issuing notices to the operators. The identified individuals have been given two to three weeks to respond with proof of why they are not liable to pay tax.
“This exercise is ongoing. The officer will pass the order on whether the taxi owner is liable and eligible for GST. Digitisation has helped with collating and comparing data, and the system makes it very simple,” said the source.
Source: The Times of India
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