Over 12,000 fake entities in GST registration, CBIC plans for biometric authentication and geo-tagging

In a bid to curb rampant cases of fake GST registration, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) is planning to implement biometric authentication and geo-tagging of risky entities under GST.

Other than this, tax authorities are also mulling over the tightening of norms in the GST return filing system to limit the scope of Income Tax Credit (ITC) claims.

The planning has come in the wake of rising cases of fraudulent cases of GST registration by misusing PAN and Aadhaar details of other people, said CBIC chief Vivek Johri.

During CBIC's ongoing drive against fake registration, GST officers identified around 12,500 bogus entities across India, which were used to claim fake ITC and defraud the exchequer.

As per the planning, authorised representatives or directors of companies applying for new registration and existing registered firms would require to get their biometric authentication done.

They would be asked to authenticate their biometric information if tax officers have a suspicion that the entities are being set up only to fraudulently claim ITC.