A total of 71 show-cause notices have been sent to online gaming firms between the fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24 (until October 2023), encompassing goods and services tax valued at Rs 1,12,332 crore.
Minister of State for Finance, Pankaj Chaudhary, furnished this information while addressing a query raised by Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi regarding tax evasion during the session in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Chaudhary stated that due to the pending adjudication of these notices, the specific GST amount has not been established under the regulations outlined in the CGST Act, 2017. He also noted that there have been no registrations of overseas online gaming companies in the country since October.
Amidst the imposition of a 28% GST on online gaming companies starting October 1, recent developments have seen overseas gaming firms required to register in India for GST payment. The Directorate General of GST Investigation has initiated actions against numerous companies for outstanding dues, issuing notices to entities such as Dream11 and Games24x7. Additionally, an ongoing Supreme Court case revolves around a Rs 21,000 crore GST notice served to Gameskraft.
During the period between April and October 2023, tax authorities uncovered GST evasion amounting to Rs 1.51 lakh crore, resulting in the recovery of Rs 18,541.38 crore. Furthermore, 154 individuals have been apprehended concerning these evasion cases.
Cumulatively, tax authorities have identified GST evasion totaling Rs 4.46 lakh crore from FY20 to FY24 (up to October 2023), of which Rs 1.07 lakh crore has been recouped.
In response to another inquiry, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman disclosed that a comprehensive scrutiny revealed 21,791 GST-registered entities to be non-existent, raising suspicions of tax evasion amounting to Rs 24,010 crore during the investigation into fake registrations. Of these entities, 11,392 fall under state tax jurisdiction, accounting for Rs 8,805 crore of suspected tax evasion, while the remaining 10,399 entities, under CBIC jurisdiction, are linked to Rs 15,205 crore of suspected tax evasion.
