Taxmen told to scan GST, I-T returns to trace tax-evaders

Directing tax officials to ensure no tax-evader go scot free, the government has directed them to match GST data and income tax (I-T) returns of the taxpayers to scale up scrutiny.

In its drive to mop up the maximum revenue in the remaining months of the current fiscal, the government has also asked tax officials to advise various entities to pay taxes before a notice from the department reaches them.

"The officials were told to get into a campaign mode to recover past dues," an official said.

In a high-level meeting, tax officers were on Friday exhorted to achieve targets for both direct taxes and GST.

A Finance Ministry source said that while total GST collection target in the remaining period of the fiscal 2019-20 is Rs 4.55 lakh crore, the annual direct tax collection target remains fixed at Rs 13.5 lakh crore.

"Direction were given to officers to put forward special efforts to identify and book tax evaders through data analytics and information sharing between direct and indirect tax departments," an official source said.

The high-level meeting was chaired by Revenue Secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey and attended by GST officials and board members of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and Central Board of Indirect taxes and Customs (CBIC).

In an attempt to prevent tax evasion, the GST Council in its meeting on Wednesday lowered the limit to input tax credit (ITC) outgo from 20 per cent to 10 per cent before invoices are uploaded on the GST systems.

The GST officials have been directed to initiate stern actions against willful tax evaders and those using fake invoices or fake E-way bills.IANS