Ministers Review GST Trends and Push for Action Against Fake Invoices
A Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant met recently to talk about two important issues: the drop in GST collections and the rise in tax fraud. The meeting focused on how some states are seeing slow or falling tax revenues and how fake invoices are being used to claim false tax credits.
Key Highlights from the Meeting
- The GoM discussed how states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu have shown slow GST revenue growth. In fact, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh reported a decline in collections.
- A big part of the discussion was on Input Tax Credit (ITC) fraud. Fake invoices are being used by some businesses to wrongly claim tax benefits. This kind of fraud has caused losses of around ₹2 lakh crore over the years.
Steps Being Considered
The ministers are looking into several ways to fix these problems:
- Using AI-based tools and better technology to track tax payments and catch fraud.
- Making e-invoicing more common and linking it to the GST system.
- Creating state-wise action plans based on the specific problems faced by each state.
The group plans to meet again soon and present their suggestions at the upcoming GST Council meeting.
Why It Matters
These talks are part of a bigger plan to:
- Improve GST collections
- Stop tax cheats
- Make the tax system fairer and stronger
The government is working hard to make sure every business pays the correct taxes and that public money is not lost because of fraud.