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The evasion of nearly 23,000 billion rupees worth of Good and Services Tax (GST) by gaming companies during the time period between April 2019 and November 2022 is currently being investigated by tax officers, according to the Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, who made the announcement on Monday.
In a written response to a question posed in the Lok Sabha, the minister stated that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached proceeds of crime totaling more than 1,000 crore in several cases related to cyber and crypto asset frauds. In these cases, online gaming and other similar activities have been used to syphon off the proceeds. In regard to the evasion of GST, Chaudhary stated that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) formations have initiated investigations against a number of gaming companies (including online gaming firms) located in India as well as in other countries.
According to what he claimed, "the projected amount of GST evasion by these organisations works out to be 22,936 crore, which relates to the period of April 2019 to November 2022."The Enforcement Division (ED) is looking into several cases that are related to cyber and crypto asset frauds. These frauds include instances in which online gaming and other activities have been used to launder money.
As of the 6th of December 2022, the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 have been utilised in these cases in order to attach, seize, and/or freeze more than one billion rupees worth of illicitly obtained funds. In addition to that, the Special Court PMLA has received a total of ten prosecution complaints (PCs), as well as two supplemental complaints.
In addition, according to the minister, assets to the value of 289.28 crore have been seized in accordance with section 37A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act of 1999.
In response to a question about whether the Income Tax Department has sent notices to a large number of gaming companies for the non-payment of tax, Chaudhary stated that the information is not available. He explained that this is the case because the Income Tax Return does not include a specific identification code for online gaming entities.
