Govt. to probe tax evasion by city’s top 10 traders
The Delhi government’s Trade and Taxes Department has initiated investigation into alleged tax evasion by the city’s top 10 traders. The move comes as the government is reportedly not satisfied with the role of the police in punishing Value Added Taxes (VAT) defaulters.
“The department will file a charge-sheet against these traders in court in April,” said an official.
This is for the first time that the department has invoked its investigative powers equivalent to that of a police station as laid out in the Delhi VAT Act to probe cases pertaining to tax evasion.
Under Section 92 of the Act, the VAT commissioner can appoint an investigative officer who has powers similar to that of a Station House Officer (SHO) of the Delhi Police, to probe roles of suspected defaulters.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the Delhi government recovered Rs.1 crore with the help of an online app named DVATBILL that examines transactions between traders and customers.
The illegal dealings of about 50 small-scale businesses came under the government’s scanner after the customers put up their bills on the app.
“We found that 50 dealers had done business on their cancelled TINs in January and February,” said VAT Commissioner S.S. Yadav.
To boost the revenue of the state, customers are encouraged to upload bills on DVATBILL under the “Bill Banvao Inam Pao Scheme,” which was launched two months ago. One per cent of valid entries get prize equal to five times the bill amount through a lucky draw.
Mr.Yadav said the Trade and Taxes Department received over 4,000 bills in January through the app, while 8,339 bills were uploaded in February.
With increasing public participation, the department is expected to trace more illegal dealers. “The scheme has become an instant hit among the people of Delhi,” said Mr.Yadav.
