Congress leader V.D. Satheesan on Thursday accused the State government of not taking any action despite his presenting evidence in the State Assembly for the operation of a gold smuggling chain in Kerala which he alleged, controlled the gold market.
When the switch to GST happened, the State should have received ₹1,800 crore annually by way of tax, but it got just ₹200 crore in the first year. Given the annual 10% hike in GST and the rise in the price of gold, the income should have been ₹3,000 crore annually, but it had got just ₹300 crore.
Citing several instances of gold smuggling, Mr. Satheesan said the State GST department was inactive. He accused it of having no coordination with Central agencies and not taking an active interest to monitor CCTV visuals of establishments producing gold ornaments.
The tax department wasn’t overseeing gold auction by NBFCs nor was it inspecting th machinery and chemicals used for production of ornaments, he alleged.
