By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, Dec 29:
The Income Tax (IT) Department recently carried out search and seizure operations on two business groups of Nandurbar and Dhule districts in North Maharashtra and unearthed unaccounted income worth over Rs 240 crore and seized a sizable amount of cash and gold jewellery.
Nearly 175 IT officers conducted 31 raids on December 22 and seized unaccounted cash worth Rs 05 crore and ornaments worth Rs 05 crore. These groups are engaged in the business of civil construction and land development. The search operation covered more than 25 premises spread across Nandurbar, Dhule and Nashik.
During the search and seizure operation, many incriminating documents, loose papers, and digital evidences were seized. In case of entities belonging to the first group, the seized documents revealed that the group resorted to large-scale suppression of taxable income by inflating its expenses, primarily by way of the claim of non-genuine sub-contract expenses and unverifiable old sundry creditors. The search team detected that these sub contracts were awarded to family members and their employees who did not render services in this regard. Evidence was also gathered about unrecorded expenses incurred in cash. The preliminary investigation indicated that this group evaded income to the extent of Rs. 150 crore on account of these malpractices.
In the case of the land developers, it was found that a substantial part of the land transactions was carried out in cash and the transactions were not accounted for in the regular books of accounts. Besides, the incriminating documents evidencing receipt of ‘on-money’ on land transactions and cash loans exceeding Rs. 52 crore were detected. The search action, resulted in the seizure of unaccounted cash of more than Rs. 5 crore and jewellery valued at Rs.5 crore. Further investigations are in progress. Commissioner of Income Tax Surabhi Ahluwalia said.
Raids in Rajasthan
In another raid, the IT department conducted searches and seizures on two groups and their business entities in Rajasthan. One group is engaged in the business of manufacturing electrical switches, wires, LEDs, real estate and hotel business in Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand , whereas the other group is engaged in money lending business in Jaipur and nearby cities.
The search action covered over 50 premises spread over various locations including Jaipur, Mumbai, and Haridwar. A large number of incriminating documents and digital data was found and seized during the search action.
A preliminary analysis of seized evidence revealed that several entities, engaged in the business of manufacturing switches, wires, LEDs, etc., were selling such goods without recording the transactions in the regular books of account. During the investigation, it was also noticed that they were claiming bogus expenses to reduce taxable income. The trail of receipt of cash component on unaccounted sale of goods was also found. In the case of this group, the search team detected transactions evidencing undisclosed income of over Rs.150 crore. The key person of the group admitted Rs.55 crore as undisclosed income and offered to pay tax thereon, the IT statement said.
The analysis of seized and other related documents relating to the other group revealed that most of the loans were given in cash at a relatively high rate of interest. Neither the loans advanced nor the interest income earned thereon, were disclosed in the Returns of Income of the persons engaged in this business. Evidence relating to undisclosed income of over Rs.150 crore was detected in this group. The search action, led to the total seizure of unaccounted cash and jewellery worth Rs.17 crore. Further investigations are in progress, the IT statement added.
