Excise, service tax evasion of Rs 5,000 crore in FY'11

Tax sleuths unearthed central excise and service tax evasion amounting to over Rs 5,500 crore in the 2010-11 financial year, even as pressure mounted on the government to crack down on black money.

Unravelling the trail of the ill-gotten wealth, taxmen was able to recover Rs 431 crore in search-and-seizure operations during the same period, official data shows.

The number of cases of central excise and service tax evasion is on the rise, as per the data, with a 14 per cent increase in the quantum of black money detected in the 2010-11 financial year in comparison to the previous year.

While the intelligence wing of the Central Excise department registered cases of duty evasion amounting to Rs 1,356 crore in FY'11, cases of evasion totalling an amount of Rs 4,352 crore were registered under the service tax category, during the same period. (PTI)