In all, there were nearly 800 big defaulters who were identified. But after notices were served to them, 300 assessees opted for the one time Voluntary Compliance Encouragement Scheme (VCES) and paid up nearly Rs 250 crore as service tax arrears. VCES offers amnesty for those who never filed their returns and those who stopped doing so.
Now, the customs officials are eager to go after the 500 other defaulters who did not opt for the amnesy scheme. The defaulters are said to include a famous Tollywood actor who recently delivered two back to back mega hits.
However, on being served a notice for Rs 1.5 crore, the actor feigned ignorance about the dues owed by him in the form of service tax but immediately paid up Rs one crore, said sources.
Among the other defaulters are those from the hospitality industry, construction sector, and several media houses including a local English daily whose service tax dues is said to have run up to more than Rs 20 crore. According to the sources, IVRCL, an infrastructure company, is among the leading defaulters and owes Rs 20 crore as service tax arrears to the department.
Meanwhile amongst those voluntarily disclosing their service tax liabilities and filing their returns under the VCES scheme and thus enjoying exemption of interest on Service Tax dues and penalty are Tech Mahindra, which paid dues to the tune of Rs 14.5 crore, and some leading hotels.
"The defaulters we have tracked down is just the tip of the iceberg. There are thousands of defaulters who are either pocketing the money from customers instead of deposit it with the department or have been issuing fake invoices. The Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI) has uncovered many cases of non-compliance," said a senior official.
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