Tax evasion complaints: Excise, central GST teams raid top salons in Chandigarh
A senior excise department official revealed that these salons offered services such as haircuts, hair colouring, makeup, spa treatments, and wedding packages at exorbitant rates, sometimes even up to lakhs, but avoided the 18% GST applicable on them. Further, they asked their customers to pay in cash without receiving bills. Their official records only reflected transactions related to the sale of beauty products while the actual revenue from services were concealed.
The teams are now scrutinising these salons' three-year returns and transaction details. As per the probe, some salons used the pretext of 'discount offers' to provide services without issuing bills, making tax evasion easier.
Sector 9 salon under close watch
The central GST team is also closely monitoring a high-profile salon in Sector 9, said to be the most expensive in the city, as it sees daily sales worth lakhs and offers services at premium rates. Authorities expect significant tax recovery from this establishment.
The excise department has indicated that more salons and beauty parlours may come under the scanner in the coming days. It has also urged the public to always insist on a bill when availing of any service, so as to help curb tax evasion. Paying GST not only strengthens government revenue but also safeguards consumer rights, the officials said.
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If President Trump were to ask me what to do, I'd say pick up the phone and call Prime Minister Modi. You've had a good relationship in the past. Encourage the Prime Minister to engage with Russia to help see if they can be a partner in bringing an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. What does that look like? India has lines of communication and a longer history with Russia. Be a partner in bringing this war to an end with Europe and the United States. Again, I think India could play a role here. In exchange for playing that constructive role, let's also think about how we de-escalate these trade tensions. Where are the opportunities? How do we also then work on maritime security issues and freedom of navigation issues? It's in no one's interest to have a war in Asia. So, let's work together, not to pit India against China, but to say what does the 21st century world order look like? What's India's role in that world order? So I would look for those common opportunities and de-escalate the tensions. I don't expect him to pick up the phone and ask for my advice, but if he reads the Hindustan Times, this advice will be in there. A key component of the tensions with America seem to be linked to the Trump administration's approach to Pakistan. What exactly is President Trump's thinking on Islamabad? Look, I find it deeply odd as well. This is not orthodox for American politics. Democratic and Republican presidents would not have done this in the past. Again, I don't know if it's just a lack of thinking through how the optics would look in India, especially so shortly after the April terror attacks. Obviously, I understand that it did not play very well in India and it doesn't help smooth over relations. So I don't understand what their strategy was there. I also don't see India and Pakistan as equivalent countries. India is a country on the rise with a fast-growing economy that will be a major player in the 21st century. Pakistan is a country that has the most domestic terror attacks in the world, has a failing economy, has real deep political challenges, but unfortunately, is a nuclear-armed nation. So they're not equivalent partners here. And again, I would say that to the Indian public, I don't see it that way. I don't think most of my colleagues in Congress see it that way. But again, I think these are some missteps that the Trump administration has made.
