Service tax defaulters can be arrested without being served a notice. Service tax officials have intensified their search for defaulters.
According to the sources, authorities are hunting for data of tax paying companies so that service tax defaulters can be identified through their service incomes.
Data to identify defaulters are being collected from several sources like Income Tax department, Tax Deducted at Source and intelligence shared from other departments.
According to Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), authorities can find the service tax liability of an entity from the respective tax returns. If found defaulting on service tax, prosecution will be initiated against them without serving prior notice.
As it will be a continuous process, service tax officials are keen to catch big defaulters to increase the revenue collection before the end of the financial year.