New Delhi, Online travel portals are under scanner for tax evasion and as many as 13 firms have been booked for evading duties to the tune of Rs 763 crore.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that the department is continuously supervising the activities of online travel websites to check service tax evasion.
"So far 13 cases have been booked involving duty amount to the tune of Rs 762.94 crores. Out of which, in 11 cases, Show Cause Notices have been issued and a recovery of Rs 19.48 crores has been made till date," the Minister said.
The Minister said that cases booked for evasion of service tax (GST) by online travel website act as deterrence.
"Also, various other measures such as scrutiny of returns, analysis of third-party data etc. for checking service tax evasion by companies engaged in providing online travel website services are being adopted to prevent such evasion," he said.