In a major breakthrough, Punjab’s Tax Department has uncovered a colossal fake billing scam worth thousands of crores, targeting both gold and iron trade sectors. The state Finance, Planning, Excise, and Taxation Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Friday announced the findings highlighting the meticulous investigation carried out by the state tax department's enforcement wing.
 
The investigation revealed that two gold firms had generated fraudulent bills amounting to Rs 860 crore, while 303 iron firms were involved in fake transactions worth Rs 4044 crore. Additionally, 68 firms were discovered to have engaged in fake billing schemes totaling Rs 533 crore by registering their firms under other people's names.
 
During a detailed inspection of a gold trading firm in Amritsar, the Department’s Enforcement Wing discovered that the firm had issued fake bills worth Rs 336 crore for the sale and purchase of gold. Further scrutiny revealed that the two firms, from which this gold was purportedly purchased, had their registrations canceled, with no record of any gold transactions.
 
A similar fraudulent scheme was detected in Ludhiana, where a firm had generated fake bills for gold transactions amounting to Rs 424 crore. Again, the implicated firms had no record of actual gold purchases, and their registrations were promptly canceled.
 
The crackdown extended to the iron trade sector, where 303 firms were found involved in fraudulent transactions totaling Rs 4044 crore. Out of these, 11 firms were registered in Punjab, 86 in other states, and 206 with the Central Government. The investigation revealed that 217 firms, registered with the Center and Punjab, had an outstanding Input Tax Credit (ITC) of Rs 89.7 crore, which has now been blocked. The total fake ITC claimed in this case was a staggering Rs 707 crore.
 
The state tax department has taken strict action against all 11 firms registered in Punjab, canceling or suspending their registrations. The Central Government has been alerted to the remaining 206 firms for further action.
 
The investigation also uncovered a case involving 68 firms registered under other people's names. Five individuals have been identified and an FIR has been filed against them in Ludhiana, with a total of 11 people named. This scheme involved bogus billing of Rs 533 crore, leading to a fake ITC claim of nearly Rs 100 crore.
 
Minister Cheema outlined the state’s ongoing efforts to prevent tax evasion and ensure financial transparency. The Punjab Tax Department is now linking GST registration with AADHAR-based biometric authentication to prevent fraudulent registrations.
 
Initiatives like the establishment of the Tax Intelligence Unit (TIU) and the State Intelligence and Preventive Unit (SIPU) have significantly contributed to a more than 13 percent growth in GST collection under the Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s leadership — a stark contrast to the previous government's six percent growth.