Bihar News: Tax Raids Seize 70kg Gold, 5500kg Silver in Major GST Evasion Crackdown

Under Commissioner Shri Sanjay Kumar Singh, Operation Sunflower seized unaccounted gold and silver, revealing tax evasion in Bihar's jewellery sector. The operation led to Rs 2 crore in voluntary tax payments.

Under the guidance and close monitoring of Commissioner-cum-Secretary Shri Sanjay Kumar Singh(IAS), a small team of 14 officers conducted the search operations in the business premises as well as residences of three erring wholesale dealers of jewellery in Bari Path Road, Bakerganj, Patna, where several jewellery shops are located, which resulted in significant accomplishment for the department in curbing tax evasion.

The search operation codenamed as "Operation Sunflower", which started on the afternoon of 5th June 2025 and continued till the evening of 6th June 2025 resulted into seizure of unaccounted 70kg of gold and 5500 kg of silver highlighting significant irregularities in documentation and billing process with the intention to evade GST. The inspection was carried out only after sufficient intelligence gathering and meticulous planning of three months at the top level which helped in precise identification of erring taxpayers and initiating search operations in the busy lanes of Bakerganj area. The team was deliberately kept small keeping in mind the business activities of that particular gold market.

Till the evening of 6th June 2025, approximately Rs 2 crore of tax amount was deposited voluntarily by the three erring taxpayers. Today, in another inspection drive in iron and steel sector, the department was able to able to recover 40 lakhs through voluntary payment by one taxpayer. The ensuing adjudication proceedings will determine the actual amount of Tax, Interest and Penalty to be paid by these defaulting taxpayers.

Commercial Taxes Department Bihar will continue it strive to tackle the menace of tax evasion in all such sectors and more stringent enforcement actions will follow for fraudulent taxpayers.