Swiggy denies allegation over tax evasion

Bengaluru-based online food delivery platform Swiggy on Friday denied any wrongdoing; two days after Income Tax (I-T) officials surveyed their premises over alleged tax irregularities of their third-party vendors.

According to the allegation the food delivery player used fake manpower supply to get Input Tax Credit (ITC) and fraud Goods & Services Tax (GTS), shared officials at Department of Revenue.

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According to sources, Swiggy has deposited the amount involved in fraudulent ITC availment worth ₹27.51 crore, pending investigation. Meanwhile, Patiala House District and Session Court has fixed January 13 to hear anticipatory bail petitions filed by two senior officials of Instakart. These officials are yet to comply with the summons of Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) in fake GST invoice frauds of availment and passing on of ITC (input tax credit) worth ₹ 21 crore, reported Hindu Business Line.

“Swiggy strongly denies the allegations that it has been complicit in any wrongdoings by Greenfinch with respect to both it being a fictitious entity and availing bogus input tax credit. We further deny all the baseless and inaccurate statements in relation to this matter," shared a Swiggy statement.

In November 2019, as a result of an investigation by the GST Intelligence wing into alleged non-payment of GST by Greenfinch, a GST survey was done at the Swiggy office to help the authorities with their findings. Swiggy fully cooperated with the authorities, the statement further added.

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According to DGGI sources, Gagan Gupta with his fake firms, namely Orient Services, Royal Enterprises and Liya Trading Services used to issue invoices without actual supply of services and passed on fraudulent ITC to various non-existent firms including Surya Team Management Pvt. Ltd. (STMPL), Merlin Facilities Private Limited (MFPL) and Greenfinch Team Management Pvt. Ltd. (GTMPL), which in turn had passed on fraudulent ITC to several companies including Instakart and Swiggy.