ICICI Lombard Under GST Scanner for Alleged Evasion of Rs 1,728.9 Crore

28 Sep 2023 , 11:25 AM

A show-cause and demand notice has been served on ICICI Lombard by a central law enforcement agency entrusted with stopping the loss of Goods and Services Tax (GST) income for allegedly failing to pay tax of Rs 1,728.9 crore during a five-year period from July 2017 to March 2022.

‘The alleged demand and the impugned Show Cause Cum Demand Notice pertain to non-payment of GST on the co-insurance premium accepted as follower in case of coinsurance transactions and non-payment of GST on re-insurance commission accepted on the reinsurance premium ceded to various Indian and Foreign reinsurance companies during the period July 2017 to March 2022,’ the general insurance company stated in a stock exchange filing.

It was delivered on September 27.

According to ICICI Lombard, the show cause cum demand letter relates to issues facing the whole industry, and the company will file an appropriate response in accordance with the timelines provided after consulting with its tax consultants.

According to a July report from ET, the Directorate General of GST Intelligence, which was looking into 30 insurance businesses for possible GST fraud, had finished looking into 15 of them and had found input tax credit anomalies of Rs 3,500 crore. The remaining 15 are currently receiving notices, according to news reports. By November, the agency had promised to wrap up its investigation.

Additionally, according to news reports, ICICI Prudential Life Insurance had been notified of a potential GST liability of close to Rs 492 crore.

While the businesses intend to sue, HDFC Life and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance each contributed Rs 50 crore and Rs 190 crore to the investigation fund without admitting fault.

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