Offences and penalties :
♦ Major provision of penalty is for non-payment of GST. These penalties are discussed earlier under ‘Demands of tax not paid, input tax credit wrongly availed and consequent penalty’.
♦ Other penalties are specified in sections 122 to 127 of CGST Act. These covers various offences like non-payment of taxes, transporting offending goods, fraudulently taking refund, violation of provisions of CGST/SGST Act and Rules etc.
♦ Tax Officers have powers to detain, seize and confiscate offending goods and conveyances – sections 129 and 130 of CGST Act.
♦ Punishment of imprisonment can be imposed for serious offences under section 132 of CGST Act.
♦ Offences relating to evasion of taxes exceeding Rs five crores are cognizable and non-bailable.
♦ In other case, bail can be granted by GST officer himself.