Old City traders use cash, evade tax

To bolster their black money, they refuse to accept cheques

Although some wholesalers and retailers in the areas like Charminar, Pathergatti, Nampally and Begum Bazaar have a daily turnover of more than `10 crore, almost 90 per cent of the amount is unaccounted for.

In order to evade Central and state GST (CGST and SGST), these tax violators collect cash from customers or produce bogus bills, which are grossly affecting government revenue.

There are around 12,000 dealers in these areas and of them over 4,800 traders, who have registered their firms with the commercial tax office take only cash payments from their customers. If the customer insists on a bill, they hand over a plain white paper mentioning the items purchased and the total amount. They do not have card swiping machines and QR code scanners. To bolster their black money, they refuse to accept cheques. If some customers, who need bills for their offices, insist they are given fake bills, including those bearing some other company’s name. Most of the customers do not ask for bills because they are busy bargaining. “I purchased a branded pressure cooker for `2,800 at Aziz Plaza in Begum Bazaar. When I asked for a scanner, the shop keeper cleverly told me that there was a server problem and I had to pay cash,” Singh, a realtor, said.

Bulk traders, who registered their firms with the commercial tax department, are more cautious. To avoid tax, they ask wholesalers from other states to declare on the LR that the material has been rejected. These violators are equipped with two bill books — one to show to tax officials and another bill, which is genuine, is kept hidden. “Taxes are very high. We prefer to collect cash,” Rajiv Soni, a textile

Ajit wholesaler, said.

Hari Krishna, assistant commissioner of commercial tax, said that from January 1 the department has doubled the penalty amount to 10 per cent.

He said, “under the directions of our joint commissioner, two teams have been formed to check documents, bills LR and the invoice of the goods that are being transported. If they fail to produce thej documents we impose a fine and CGST and SGST on them," he said.