Punjab is passing through the toughest financial crises and at such time, the SGST department fully
failed to check the evasion of revenue. Due to such criminals, the state is losing a revenue of more
than 20000 crores a year. We have compiled a report that will prove the volume of tax evasions in
Punjab.
As per data presented by Minister of Finance in the Parliament against the question of Member
Parliament Mr. Sushil Modi, The Punjab shown no interest in checking the evasions. The figures
presented to the Ministry of Finance we fake and unauthenticated, as it is not possible to recover
200 Crores against the GST evasion of 296 crores during 2019-20.
This clearly shows the connivance between the corrupt officers of bogus billing companies. Due to
this Punjab only detected 1% of National evasion. The nearest states are much ahead of PUNJAB in
investigation of fake billing.
Below data clearly shows that The SGST department of Punjab is least serious about the tax evasion
in the state. The other nearby states has recovered from 7000 crores to 9000 crores whereas
Punjab hardly crossed the 1000 figure. One of the reasons could be the shelter of few senior corrupt
officers to the bogus billing companies. There is dire need to investigate this connivance and these
officers are also supporting such criminals for transportation of unbilled goods called PASSING.
More than 100000 Crores of Bogus Billing in State & No action against any official:
Since the introduction of GST regime in country the Bogus Billing score crossed 1 Lakh Crores in
State. Such a big scam was impossible without the connivance of the officers but unfortunately no
action taken against any of the officers of department. In some cases the officers suspended by the
previous government for involvement in corruption cases are promoted by the present government
on very important posts (Copy Enclosed). The officers earmarked by the vigilance in Amritsar
Bogus Billing Scam were also given the top posts by the government.
Officer on suspension due to corruption or facing vigilance cases given top positions:
In Punjab many officers those were suspended from the department due to corruption were given
the very important positions. Similarly there are officers whose name were highlighted by the
vigilance were also awarded with the promotions. This act promotes the corruption in state so the
government must remove such officers from the important positions.
Punjab is ahead the National Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE):
Punjab is having the 5th Highest MPCE among major Indian states. The Rural MPCE of Punjab is
5363Rs & Urban is 6577, whereas the National average is 3860 for the Rural and 6521 for the
urban population. The Rural MPCE of Haryana is 4912 and Urban is 7948. But the difference in GST
ratio is almost 3 times more than Punjab. As per MPCE the Food Expenditure is 40% and Non Food
Expenditure is 60%. So if we compare the data of Punjab ,Haryana and Delhi than we can easily
judge the GST evasion in Punjab.
State loosing 20000 crores annually due to Bogus Billing & Bill Swapping:
Punjab is passing through the toughest financial face due to the heavy burden of interest payments.
But even after such circumstances the finance department of state is hardly bothered about the loss
of 20000 crores annually caused due to ingenuine and bogus billing.
This list is endless and even after sending the evidences the department shown no interest to check
this evasion which clearly proves a connivance between the officials and the evaders. The housing
sectors tops in tax evasions but due to vested interests the department never check this sector. The
tax evasion volume is high in auto part sector due to high rate of GST so they issue less than 5%
invoices to the retail customers.
Punjab collects the lowest per capita GST:
Punjabi’s are known for their lavish life styles, big houses and fat wedding parties. Their
expenditure is surely highest from many other states of India. But when we go through the data of
per capita GST collection of the state we will be shocked to know that our per capita GST collection
is lowest in the region.
Due to these tax evasions, Punjab is the soft target of exporters of India. They purchase invoices
from Punjab to get the input tax credits. Even the exporters of Punjab shows higher selling value as
the input tax credit invoices are easily available in state.
Lowest ratio of average GST collection from per GST Taxpayer in Punjab for the last five
months. The national average of GST collection from per tax payer in India during 2022-23 was
4.80 lakh whereas in Punjab the average collection was merely 2.77 lakh. If we discuss about the
migrated tax payers the national average is 27.33 lakh per tax payer whereas in Punjab this average
is 13.85 lakh. In case of new tax payers Punjab is collecting 4833 crores from 152209 tax payers
with an average of 3.18 lakh whereas the national average of new tax payers is 4.78 lakh per tax
payer.
Even after repeated complaints no action taken by the GST department of big trading
houses:
Bill swapping is even bigger fraud than the bogus billing in state. There are thousands of stores in
Punjab those are involved in such activities. They are selling the material in retail but issuing the
invoices to the exporters and other companies for taking full input tax credit from the government.
After Imposition of GST the revenue gap between Punjab and other states Increased:
As per data of revenue department the revenue of the states in 2015-16 was as under. This was the
revenue of all the accounts subsumed in GST.
Whereas, after the implementation of GST the revenue collection gap between these states
increased many folds.
Punjab is ahead the National Monthly Per Capita Expenditure (MPCE): Punjab is having the 5th
Highest MPCE among major Indian states. The Rural MPCE of Punjab is 5363Rs & Urban is 6577,
whereas the National average is 3860 for the Rural and 6521 for the urban population. The Rural
MPCE of Haryana is 4912 and Urban is 7948. But the difference in GST ratio is almost 3 times more
than Punjab. As per MPCE the Food Expenditure is 40% and Non Food Expenditure is 60%. So if we
compare the data of Punjab ,Haryana and Delhi than we can easily judge the GST evasion in Punjab.
Registration of High Value Vehicles in nearby states: To evade the higher road tax in Punjab the
high value vehicles are registered by the buyers in Chandigarh and Himachal. There is dire need to
investigate such purchases where the vehicles have purchased in other states by the Punjab’s
residents.
Huge evasion in Online Gaming & Lottery: show cause notices involving GST to the tune of Rs.
1,12,332 Cr. have been issued to online gaming companies during financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24
by many states but Punjab is still behind in investigating the GST evasion in this sector.
Corruption in VAT & GST Assessment & issuing of refunds: There are endless complaints in
regard to corruption in settlement of cases picked for assessment and even after the online refund
system it is hard to get the refund without the help of the middlemen in Punjab. The revenue
involved in such corruption is in billions but the department never bothered to check such
complaints. The CBI ordered the enquiry of VAT refunds in 2015 but the same was dropped as few
industrial Organizations moved to the Honourable High Court of Punjab against this enquiry. There
is a dire need of third party inspection of all the assessments conducted by the SGST department.
Punjab, the one of the richest state of India is struggling to collect the GST. The main reason
behind this is Bogus Billing, Bill Swapping & Passing and Huge Corruption in State. There is a
dire need to order and enquiry to unearth all such GST frauds in Punjab.
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