Director of company arrested for alleged evasion of Rs 3 Cr service tax
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, JULY 11, 2018: DELHI GST sleuths today arrested the MD of a company accused of collecting service tax to the tune of Rs 3 crores but not depositing the same to the Exchequer's account. The Company had collected more than Rs 3 Crores as Service Tax from its clients but had not deposited the same with the Government Exchequer.
The power to arrest is provided under Section 91 of the Finance Act 1994 for violating the provisions of Section 89 of the Finance Act 1994 read with Section 174 of CGST Act, 2017. He was produced in the Court of CMM, Patiala House Court and has been sent to Judicial Custody for 15 days. Further investigations are being conducted and the amount of Service Tax evaded is bound to increase.
The Government gave its assurance to taxpayers that compliant taxpayers did not run the risk of facing such punitive action in carrying out their day to day operations. The power to arrest would be exercised where there is deliberate fraud of sizeable magnitude with intent to evade tax. It is meant to serve as a deterrent to unscrupulous elements in trade who may try to defraud the system. There are sufficient checks built into the law to ensure that inadvertent or procedural lapses do not attract severe punitive measures.
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