Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday asked tax officers to strengthen the GST registration process further by using technology. This was during a review meeting on fake registration and billing.
Tax officers have identified 11,140 fake GST registrations and initiated action against fraudsters in the ongoing two-month-long special drive launched on May 16.
FM Sitharaman instructed that the GST registration process may be further strengthened using technology to curb entry of such fake entities in GST ecosystem. She also called for a nationwide campaign to explain the objectives of the special drive to weed out fake entities.
The minister said that the government is committed to ensuring that the GST system is fair and transparent. She also said that the government is taking all necessary steps to curb tax evasion and fraud.
The government has taken a number of steps to strengthen the GST registration process. These include:
- Introducing a risk-based approach to registration, which means that businesses with a higher risk of non-compliance will be subject to more scrutiny.
- Requiring businesses to provide additional information, such as bank account details and PAN numbers, when they register for GST.
- Cross-checking information provided by businesses with other databases, such as the electoral roll and the income tax database.
These measures have helped to reduce the number of fake GST registrations. However, the government is aware that there is still more work to be done. By strengthening the GST registration process and using technology, the government can help to ensure that the GST system is fair and transparent, and that tax evasion and fraud are curbed.