Tax row over Messi visit: Keralam GST department recommends action against officials

The Keralam Goods and Services Tax department has recommended action against some senior tax officials in connection with the non-payment of tax in connection with the unsuccessful bid to bring the Lionel Messi and the Argentina football team to Kerala.A memo of charges has been issued to a State Taxes Officer while action has been recommended against a Deputy Commissioner and a Joint Commissioner, a senior State GST official said. The GST Commissioner has made a recommendation in this regard to the State government.The action against the officials pertains to alleged lapses in recovering ₹22.68 crore as GST from a television channel, which was the sponsor of the event.The State GST department had constituted a five-member Special Investigation Team to probe the allegations regarding the n