According to the sources, the GST department conducted a search at the office of Aviva’s life insurance unit, a prominent British insurance company, situated near New Delhi. The operation was part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of tax evasion, according to sources familiar with the matter.
During the visit on November 7, officers from DGGI seized documents and laptops from the premises. Notably, officials, including Aviva Life Insurance India’s CEO Asit Rath and CFO Sonali Athalye, were reportedly questioned during the operation.
Aviva Life Insurance, India, confirmed the GST officials’ visit to their head office site and stated that they are fully cooperating with the authorities. However, the company did not provide additional details and refrained from commenting on the questioning of its executives. As of now, India’s finance ministry, which oversees the GST department, has not responded to requests for comments on the matter, reported Reuters.
The searches at Aviva are part of a more extensive investigation that involves several insurance companies facing allegations of unpaid dues totaling at least $610 million. According to a senior Indian government official, these companies are suspected of accounting for sales commissions above the regulator-prescribed limit as advertising and marketing costs. Subsequently, they allegedly claimed tax credits in violation of the law.
Recently, the Income Tax department has uncovered evasion of more than Rs 15,000 crore as it completed the investigation into alleged malpractices in the payment of commissions by insurance companies.
The insurers were also investigated by the DGGI. The investigation by the tax department looked into alleged tax evasion in violation of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), while the DGGI looked into the insurers for allegedly fake input tax credit claims (ITC).
Read More: Income Tax Department Finds Alleged Tax Evasion Worth Rs 15,000 Crore by Insurance Companies
In the past five years, the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has registered 106 cases of tax evasion involving a total of ₹7,581.8 crore against various insurance companies, according to the report the Finance Ministry submitted to the parliament. The Income Tax department has also begun taking action against these companies.
Read More: Tax Evasion of 7582 Crores by Insurance Companies: CBIC registers 106 cases
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