Tax evasion exposed in Mumbai APMC dry fruit market, CBIC takes major action against walnut traders:

News Topical, Digital Desk : CBI Raid In Navi Mumbai: A major revelation has been made in the case of tax evasion of crores of rupees in APMC dry fruit market of Navi Mumbai. A strategy was adopted to save tax by deliberately showing low prices (under-invoicing) in the import of walnuts, against which the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has started action. The investigation campaign has been going on in the market for the last seven days, which has caused a lot of commotion among the traders.

According to the information, some traders were under-reporting the price of walnuts imported from abroad, especially Chile, in the invoices so that custom duty and other taxes could be paid less. Such activity causes loss of revenue to the government and also affects fair competition in the market.

Strict monitoring is being done on the movement of employees
Under CBIC's Intelligence Unit, Mumbai Zone, a team of about 15-20 officers has been conducting search operations in Asia's largest wholesale market - APMC Dry Fruit Market since last week. Due to the investigation, many traders have closed their shops and warehouses, while some have opened only half the shutter. Strict monitoring is being done on the movement of all employees.

In-depth investigation is being done
Sources say that in this case of tax evasion, traders have manipulated through different invoices in the name of more than one company and payment for imports has been made using hawala channels. All these activities are outside the scope of law and now they are being investigated in depth.

A senior official, on the condition of anonymity, said that many traders import walnuts to India via Nepal so that they do not have to pay taxes by showing direct import. Also, the valuation of goods registered under VLI (Very Low Invoice) is under suspicion, for which the department is adopting the process of investigation and re-valuation.

In this entire matter, it is also being seen whether the necessary Plant Quarantine Clearance and FSSAI permission was taken for the import of walnuts or not. According to the rules, before importing any food item, it is necessary to ensure that there are no insects or pathogens in it.

Commonly adopted methods of tax evasion:

Under-invoicing: Deliberately under-invoicing the value of goods imported from abroad.

Underpayment of taxes: Evasion of customs duty and GST based on underassessment.

Hawala transactions: Sending money through secret channels, bypassing the legitimate payment process.

Manipulation of clearance: FSSAI and quarantine permissions manipulated.

At present, considering the seriousness of the matter, senior officers are investigating it from every angle. Assessment of how many crores of rupees of tax has been evaded is ongoing.