Information related to Section 132 of the CGST Acr, 2017

[Rajesh Kumar]

Sir/ Madam,

1. Section 132 (1)-

…………shall be punishable––

(i) in cases where the amount of tax evaded or the amount of input tax credit wrongly availed or utilised or the amount of refund wrongly taken exceeds five hundred lakh rupees, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine;

I want to know that whether the said part of section 132 covers CGST + SGST / IGST portion for five crores or only CGST portion required for 5 Crores.

2. Further Section 132 (1) (d) says :

(d) collects any amount as tax but fails to pay the same to the Government beyond a period of three months from the date on which such payment becomes due;

There if taxpayer files GSTR-1 but not filed 3B or short paid through GSTR -3B which results short payment or non payment of more than five crores but payment from the customer is not received in the bank account.

Whether can Department covers this act for arrest under 132(1)(d) even payment not received from the customer but invoices have been issued and GSTR-1 has been filed accordingly.

Regards

AI Summary

Definition of tax under GST covers all components; prosecution for failure to remit depends on actual collection evidence.
The term tax for the offence includes central, state, integrated and union territory GST components and compensation cess, so the monetary threshold is determined by the aggregate tax exposure. Non-filing or underpayment of returns meant to remit tax can attract criminal prosecution where evidence shows actual collection, retention, falsification or intention to evade, whereas mere invoicing without receipt may not satisfy the "collection" element for a collection-based offence.