Kolkata: The registration of companies for Goods and Services Tax (GST) reduced by 40 per cent since the state government introduced biometric based Aadhaar verification mandatory for GST registration.
In July 2024, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) announced that biometric based aadhar authentication for GST will be compulsory for those taxpayers who identified based on data analytics and risk parameters. The biometric based Aadhaar authentication was introduced in the state in August, 2024. Taxpayers who won’t opt for such authentication need to mandatorily visit the GST Suvidha Kendra for photo capturing and document verification.
A Finance department official said the applications for registration which was around 8,500 last month prior to Aadhaar authentication has come down to around 5,500 which bears testimony to the fact that many organisations are abstaining from GST registration to avoid getting caught for bogus registrations. The receipt of alerts by the Directorate of Commercial Taxes, West Bengal on bogus companies have also come down. However, the lesser number of GST registrations has had no effect on GST collection of the state.
In the recently-concluded 2024-25 fiscal, the state collection has been Rs 46,893 crore which is nearly Rs 5,000 crore more than fiscal 2023-24, in which the state’s GST earning was Rs 42,000 crore. As per Section 132 of CGST Act 2017, issuance of an invoice without supply of goods or services and wrongful availing or utilisation of Input Tax Credit is a cognisable and non-bailable offense.
The state Directorate of Commercial Taxes has been able to unearth forgery through Input Tax Credit to the tune of Rs 482 crore till February. The Directorate has earned Rs 156 crore already from these companies through penalisation.