GST evasion doubles to Rs 2.01 lakh crore in FY24

Tax evasion under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime has surged to Rs 2.01 lakh crore for the financial year 2023-24, nearly doubling from Rs 1.01 lakh crore in the previous fiscal year, according to data released by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) on Saturday.

The increase in detected evasion highlights a growing challenge in GST enforcement.

The DGGI report identified the online gaming and banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sectors as the most prone to GST evasion.

The online gaming sector alone accounted for Rs 81,875 crore in evasion, while the BFSI sector saw Rs 18,961 crore.

Among goods, the iron, copper, scrap, and alloys sectors faced Rs 16,806 crore in evasion, with pan masala, tobacco, cigarette, and beedi following at Rs 5,794 crore.

Mumbai emerged as the highest zone for GST evasion detection, with a total of Rs 70,985 crore, followed by Delhi at Rs 18,313 crore, Pune at Rs 17,328 crore, Gurugram at Rs 15,502 crore, and Hyderabad at Rs 11,081 crore.

For goods, iron, copper, scrap, and alloys had 1,976 cases with Rs 16,806 crore in tax evasion, and pan masala, tobacco, cigarette, and bidi had 212 cases with Rs 5,794 crore.

 Other notable sectors include plywood, timber, and paper with 238 cases amounting to Rs 1,196 crore, and electronic items with 23 cases and Rs 1,165 crore in evasion.

The report detailed 6,084 cases of GST evasion in FY24, up from 4,872 cases the previous year. Voluntary payments in these cases amounted to Rs 26,605 crore in 4,520 cases, compared to Rs 20,713 crore in 3,683 cases in FY23.