The Enforcement Wing of the State Goods and Services Tax (SGST) Department has detected unaccounted transactions. These unregistered dealings were worth ₹42 crores, and the authorities found them across 14 coaching classes. Last week, the department raided 51 locations of the coaching centres because the SGST department suspected them of tax evasion.
The coaching classes include big names like the World Inbox Academy of Ahmedabad. The department officials have detected evasion of INR six crores. Out of this amount, the department authorities were successful in recovering ₹1.85 crores. Earlier, the department noticed unaccounted transactions worth ₹18 crores, out of which the officers retrieved only ₹3.25 crores.
A senior officer from the Gujarat GST department said, “It is a clear tax evasion case. The investigation shows that coaching classes are underreporting the fees levied on the students in their GST returns. Thus, the SGST department officials are thoroughly checking the digital data. Each coaching centre filed their GST returns which are also under investigation.”
Additionally, the department has found a flow of unaccounted cash transactions from the coaching centres. As per the sources, the coaching centres accepted fees in cash. Apart from this, the classes paid the faculty members also in banknotes.
The Enforcement Wing has raided the premises of these coaching centres all over Gujarat. The locations include the coaching district centres of Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, Junagadh, Rajkot, Jamnagar, and Surat. As per some sources, the department is planning to raid more such coaching centres. Moreover, the officers tracked down the transactions using market intelligence and data analytics software. The division specially deployed the software to detect cases of tax evasion.
