With GST being linked to ED, traders paying tax can be arrested: Kejriwal

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Tuesday that with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) being linked with the Enforcement Directorate (ED), even those traders paying the tax can be arrested by the federal agency.

Kejriwal hoped that people would oppose this development at the GST Council meeting on Tuesday. The government has amended the provisions of the money-laundering law to allow the ED to share information with the GST network. The move would help in the recovery of the GST evaded through money laundering. “A large proportion of traders do not pay GST — some out of compulsion, some intentionally.

 A few days ago, the Centre also brought the GST within the purview of the ED. It means that now, if a businessman does not pay the GST, the ED will arrest him directly and bail will not be granted,” Kejriwal alleged in a tweet in Hindi. GSTN handles the technology backbone of the indirect-tax regime and is the repository of all GST-related information, including return, tax filing and other compliances.