‘Tax fraud’: SGST searches at firms

Ludhiana: State goods and services tax (SGST) department, Ludhiana, on Wednesday conducted a search at a leading ciompany dealing with customisation of commercial vehicles, and manufacturers of specialised machines like road sweeping machines etc. The search was executed by range-5 of the department, under the instructions of SGST Punjab additional commissioner Viraj S Tidke. Ludhiana deputy commissioner (states taxes) Randhir Kaur confirmed the action and said, “Action was held at three units belonging to the company which has its head office at Samrala. Our teams had taken into possession several documents and also conducted physical stock taking. Processing of the information collected in the inspection is underway and verification of the facts is going on.”Meanwhile, according to sources privy to the action, the department suspects that the company may have claimed input tax credit (ITC) in excess of its entitlement, but the exact details would be ascertained once the action on the company concludes. Sources also revealed that several other companies of Ludhiana are under the radar of the SGST department for claiming excess ITC from the government. Scrutiny of these firms is underway after which the action will be taken on the violators.