Chandigarh, Aug 10: Excise and central GST officials on Friday raided more than a dozen high-end salons across Chandigarh’s Sectors 8, 9, 26, and 35 following complaints of goods and services tax (GST) evasion.
A senior excise department officer explained that these salons provided services such as haircuts, hair coloring, makeup, spa treatments, and wedding packages at steep prices—sometimes running into lakhs—but avoided paying the applicable 18% GST. Customers were often asked to pay cash without receiving bills.
“Official records only showed sales of beauty products, while revenues from services were deliberately hidden,” the official said. The raids are now focused on examining three years’ worth of returns and transaction details to uncover the full extent of the evasion.
Investigators found that some salons exploited “discount offers” as a cover to deliver services without issuing bills, facilitating tax avoidance.
Among those under close scrutiny is a prominent salon in Sector 9, known as the city’s most expensive, reportedly generating daily sales worth lakhs. The central GST team expects substantial tax recoveries from this establishment.
The excise department warned that more salons and beauty parlours might face investigations in the coming days. Officials urged the public to always demand bills for services rendered, stressing that “paying GST not only boosts government revenue but also protects consumer rights.”
