Online travel services provider MakeMyTrip is being investigated for alleged service tax evasion of Rs 75 crore. The Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence registered a case against the company for allegedly not depositing service tax collected from customers, PTI reported. A senior executive of the company was arrested and released on bail last week, officials said.
According to the report, MakeMyTrip has collected service tax to the tune of Rs 83 crore from customers between October 2010 to September 2015 for the taxable service of renting hotel rooms, out of which Rs 67 crore has not been deposited in the government's account. The DGCEI also found that the company was depositing a smaller "MMT Tax" levied on customer vouchers.
In addition, background checks conducted by the DGCEI on 490 hotels available on MakeMyTrip found that 212 of them are not registered with service tax authorities. A company spokesperson said the service tax case is an industry issue and it will be contesting the case with the appropriate authorities.
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