During a two-month initiative aimed at eliminating fake Goods and Services Tax Identification Numbers (GSTINs), tax authorities have cancelled more than 4,900 registrations and exposed over ₹15,000 crore of tax evasion, a top-ranking tax official revealed on Wednesday. This operation will conclude on July 15.

What Happened? Per a PTI report, Shashank Priya, a member of the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, argued that the high volume of fraudulent registrations discovered signifies a need for stricter policy around GST registration and filing.

So far, tax officers have selected over 69,600 GSTINs for physical verification.

“Out of these, we found 16,989 GSTINs to be non-existent. We’ve suspended 11,015 GSTINs and cancelled 4,972,” Priya announced at Assocham’s National Conclave on GST.

He added that the drive has exposed tax evasion worth ₹15,035 crore and led to the blocking of ₹1,506 crore in Input Tax Credit (ITC) since May 16. The authorities have managed to recover approximately ₹87 crore.

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“This suggests we need to fix the gaps in registration and filing. We need to refine risk parameters for registration verification,” Priya stated.

What’s a GSTIN? Businesses get a unique GSTIN when they register under GST. They need this number to claim ITC and file tax returns. If companies operate in multiple states, they must get a GSTIN in each state.

Since GST’s introduction six years ago, the number of registered taxpayers has more than doubled to 1.40 crore.

Fake GSTINs are a significant issue as fraudsters use them to falsely claim ITC and issue fake invoices, which hurts the national treasury.

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