PIMPRI: Nearly 120 persons who have defaulted in payment of Rs 41 crore erstwhile service tax have gone missing in Pimpri Chinchwad and nearby areas. The Goods and Service Tax (GST) department has launched a hunt to locate them to recover the dues along with the fine amount.
After the introduction of the GST Act, the government had stipulated a deadline for payment of the old service tax.
Some persons had failed in paying their service tax dues. The GST Department has discovered that many of these persons have either closed their businesses or have disappeared from their registered addresses.
The GST Department has now launched a drive to locate the defaulters on the basis of their Permanent Account Number (PAN) submitted by them earlier for tax payment.
Amit Nayak, Assistant Commissioner and nodal officer for the GST Department, said, “Information is being collected to find out whether these persons have started a new business in the city or elsewhere.”
The GST Department has corresponded with the Income Tax Department to trace the missing tax defaulters.
Social media networks including Facebook and WhatsApp are also used to locate the tax defaulters.
The defaulters are professionals and small-scale entrepreneurs from Pimpri Chinchwad, Talegaon and Chakan.
