NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Indian government has detected goods and services tax (GST)evasion of 1.51 trillion rupees ($17.99 billion) in 2023/24, and recovered tax worth 185.4 billion rupees up to October, according to data shared by the finance ministry on Tuesday.
The highest tax evasion of 844 billion rupees was detected in the industrial state of Maharashtra, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told lawmakers.
In 2022/23, tax authorities detected tax evasion of 1.32 trillion rupees, and recovered 332.3 billion rupees, data showed.
The tax authorities have issued 71 notices to online gaming companies for not paying GST of 1.12 trillion rupees in financial years 2022/23 and 2023/24, Chaudhary said.
In August, India decided to impose a 28% tax on online gaming companies on the total funds deposited to play online games, leading to some firms like Mobile Premier League laying off employees.
($1 = 83.3567 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Nikunj Ohri; Editing by Mark Potter)
