Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) identify fraud claims worth 1875 crores by exporters. The cases remain untraceable at their place of business, leading to the suspension of 56 linked custom brokers.
1377 Exporters Wrongfully Claim IGST Refund Worth Rs 1875 Crores
The CBIC has found 1,377 exporters fraudulently claiming integrated goods and services tax (IGST) refund of Rs 1,875 crore. It said that there were 7516 exporters on the ‘risky list’ till July. Of these, seven stars accredited exporters have unfairly claimed refunds of Rs 28.9 crore. Besides, they mentioned receiving adverse reports in respect of 2197 risky exporters.
The CBIC has identified offence cases worth Rs 115 crore against identified risky exporters. Out of these, it has received verification of 234 suppliers while 82 suppliers were not found at their place of business. Besides, it has suspended IGST refund/drawback worth Rs 1,363 crore concerning 2,830 risky exporters. Further, the CBIC received positive reports of 695 cases from CGST formation. Out of this, it has suspended 461 claims of IGST refund /drawback amounting to Rs 273 crore.
License of 56 Custom Brokers Suspended
Based on the findings of data analytics carried by the Directorate General of Analytics and Risk Management (DGARM), the CBIC has suspended licenses of 56 custom brokers linked to unscrupulous exporters. The remaining are under investigation. They were found to have handled 15,290 export consignments of 1,431 untraceable exporters. Of the 56 brokers, 37 are from Delhi.
The agency explained that one case involving 99 untraceable exports claimed Rs 121.79 crore of IGST refund. Such brokers were under suspicion for a long time. The governing body has blocked the rebate of Rs 226 crore. Also, it has ordered a 100% examination of all import consignments considering the increasing number of malpractices.
The exporters are termed risky based on specific indicators based on Customs, GST, Income Tax, and DGFT data.
In all, the nodal agency has managed to discern the fraudulent cases of IGST refund and released suspension orders accordingly.