Clarifying that tax liabilities from the recent cash seizure from searches conducted at the residential and business premises of Uttar Pradesh-based businessman Peeyush Jain are yet to be determined, GST authorities on Thursday said no deposit of tax dues has been made so far.
“The total amount of cash in the ongoing case from residential and factory premises of M/s Peeyush Jain has been kept as case property in the safe custody of the State Bank of India pending further investigations. No deposit of tax dues has been made by M/s Odochem Industries from the seized money to discharge their tax liabilities and their tax liabilities are yet to be determined,” the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) said in a statement.
Citing some reports which stated that the department is treating the Rs 197.49-crore cash recovered from Jain as business turnover and a fourth of it being allowed to be deposited as tax, DGGI called such reports “purely speculative”. Voluntary submissions by the accused are under investigation, which will decide the exact nature of the liability, it stated.
The DGGI stated, “Voluntary submissions made by ShriPeeyush Jain are a subject matter of ongoing investigations and any view on the source of cash seized by the department and the exact tax liabilities of M/s Odochem Industries or other parties involved in the investigation shall be taken on the basis of appraisal of evidences collected from various premises during the searches and the outcome of further investigations.”
A total Rs 197.49 crore cash, 23 kg gold and some offending goods of high value have been recovered so far in searches carried out in UP’s Kannauj at Odochem Industries — a manufacturer of perfumery compounds — and its proprietor Peeyush Jain, the statement said.
The department denied it had treated the recoveries as turnover and the accused has been allowed to deposit Rs 52 crore as tax dues. Such reports are without any basis and seek to “undermine the integrity of the ongoing investigations which are being carried out in a most professional manner based on specific intelligence”, it said.
The DGGI said that “based on voluntary admission of guilt and evidence available on record,” Jain was arrested on December 26 and produced before the competent court the next day, which sent him to 14 days of judicial custody. Jain has been charged under Section 132 of the Central Goods and Services Act, 2017, which deals with offences of supplying any goods or services without an invoice, the issue of any invoice or bill without supply of goods or services, or evading tax.
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