STD intensifies inspection drives to curb tax evasion, ITC mismatches

Jammu, Jan 9: In continuation to the drive against menaces of ITC mismatch, recycling B2C bills and GST violations, Jammu and Kashmir State Taxes Department (STD) intensified its inspections and enforcement drives across various districts of Jammu division.

STD Officials said that based on inputs generated by various AI tools including Business Intelligence and Fraud Analytics (BIFA), E-way Bills Portal, inputs from SIU and other components of enforcement wings, the department constituted special teams headed by State Tax Officers (STOs), tasked to carry out inspections.

STD official said that these teams visited seven different locations and inspected various business premises simultaneously to investigate violations under GST Law by verifying documents, physical stock position, bill books etc.

The inspections were carried under the guidance of Commissioner State Taxes J&K, P K Bhat and under the supervision of Additional Commissioner Enforcement and Administration Jammu, Namrita Dogra.

“At present inspections have been conducted at seven different locations, which commenced on Wednesday and continued on Thursday also,” an official informed.

He added teams specifically targeted dealers who were found engaged in the recycling of B2C invoices into B2B invoices, thereby passing on ITC to other dealers and contractors. The ITC was being used to settle GST output tax instead of being paid in cash, which results in less flow of cash.

The State Taxes Department urged the dealers to follow the fair-trade practices and avoid indulging in tax evasion activities or fraudulent practices involving fake ITC.

Furthermore, the department appealed all taxpayers to practice invoice-based business and report their actual sales and pay the necessary amount of GST in their monthly/quarterly returns to avoid enforcement actions and penalties.