Income Tax Department conducts searches on a prominent Transmission Tower manufacturing group in West Bengal

Sep 1, 2022 | Business


The Income Tax Department carried out a search and seizure operation on 24.08.2022 on a prominent Kolkata based group, engaged in manufacturing of Power Transmission & Distribution (T&D) Structure, Steel Structures, Steel ERW Pipes and Polymer products, etc. The search action covered 28 premises spread over West Bengal and Jharkhand.


During the course of the search operation, various methods of tax evasion adopted by the group were unearthed. A large number of incriminating evidence in the form of documents and digital data demonstrating booking of bogus expenditure and undisclosed cash sales has been found. Moreover, evidence of use of unaccounted cash for acquisition of immovable property and unaccounted cash loan, etc. has also been found and seized.


A preliminary analysis of seized evidence reveals that several shell companies have been utilised by the group to provide accommodation entries to its flagship concerns. These shell entities have been found to have routed back the unaccounted money in the guise of share capital/unsecured loan into the business of the group. In addition, accommodation entries by an entry operator through a web of numerous shell companies aggregating to more than Rs.150 crore have also been detected.


The search action has, so far, led to detection of total unaccounted income of more than Rs. 250 crore.


Further investigations are in progress.


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RM/MV/RMN




(Release ID: 1855977)
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Income Tax Department conducts search and seizure operations in Haryana

Jan 17, 2022 | Business


The Income Tax Department had conducted a search and seizure operations on a diversified business group engaged in the manufacturing of plywood/plyboard, MDF board, inverter and vehicle batteries, and in the refining of lead on 11.01.2022.  More than 30 premises spread across the cities of Yamuna Nagar, Ambala, Karnal, and Mohali have been covered in the search operation.


During the search operation, various incriminating documents and digital evidences have been found and seized in relation to entities of plywood business. These include a parallel set of books of account recording the entries of cash transactions of purchase, sale, payment of wages, and other expenses of group entities, in addition to transactions of investment in immovable properties. These evidences have clearly revealed the modus operandi of the group that it is involved in the generation of cash by suppression of sales to the extent of about 40% of the actual sales. The preliminary analysis of incriminating evidence indicates that this group has suppressed sales to the tune of Rs.400 crore in the last three years.


In case of a battery manufacturing concern, the search team unearthed incriminating evidence regarding payment of wages and purchase of raw materials in cash aggregating to Rs.110 crore which has not been recorded in the books of account. In the case of battery manufacturing as well as lead refining concerns and its related entities, suspicious purchases exceeding Rs.40 crore from non-existent concerns have also been identified.


The correlation of this evidence has also revealed that unaccounted cash so generated is systematically invested in the acquisition of immovable properties of key persons of plywood and lead refining businesses.


The search action has resulted in seizure of unaccounted cash of more than Rs 6.60 crore and jewellary valued to the tune of Rs 2.10 crore. In total, 22 bank lockers have been kept under restraint and are yet to be operated.


Further investigations are in progress.


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RM/KMN




(Release ID: 1790529)
Visitor Counter : 388











5.89 crore Income Tax Returns filed on new e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department as on 31st December, 2021

Jan 2, 2022 | Business


Nearly 5.89 crore Income Tax Returns (ITRs) have been filed on the new e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department as on 31st December, 2021, the extended due date. More than 46.11 lakh ITRs were filed on 31.12.2021. In order to assist taxpayers with a smooth experience on the portal, 16,850 taxpayer calls and 1,467 chats were responded to by the helpdesk. In addition, the Department has been proactively engaging with and reaching out to taxpayers and professionals for assistance on its official Twitter handle. On 31st December, 2021 alone, more than 230 Tweets from taxpayers and professionals were responded to.


Out of 5.89 crore ITRs filed for AY 2021-22 as on 31st December, 49.6% of these are ITR1 (2.92 crore), 9.3% are ITR2 (54.8 lakh), 12.1% are ITR3 (71.05 lakh), 27.2% are ITR4 (1.60 crore), 1.3% are ITR5 (7.66 lakh), ITR6 (2.58 lakh) and ITR7 (0.67 lakh). Over 45.7% of these ITRs have been filed using the online ITR form on the portal and the balance have been uploaded using the ITR created from the offline software utilities.


In comparison, as on 10th January, 2021 (the extended due date for ITRs for AY 2020-21), the total number of ITRs filed was 5.95 crore with 31.05 lakh ITRs filed on the last day ie on 10th January, 2021 as against over 46.11 lakh ITRs filed on the last day this year.


The Department gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the taxpayers, Tax Practitioners, Tax Professionals and others who have made this possible. We reiterate our resolve to work tirelessly to ensure a smooth & stable taxpayer service experience to all.


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RM/KMN




(Release ID: 1786783)
Visitor Counter : 849











Income Tax Department conducts searches in Maharashtra

Dec 28, 2021 | Business


The Income Tax Department carried out search and seizure operations on 22.12.2021 on two business groups of Nandurbar and Dhule districts of Maharashtra. These groups are engaged in the business of civil construction and land development. The search operation covered more than 25 premises spread across Nanndurbar, Dhule and Nashik. 


During the search and seizure operation many incriminating documents, loose papers, and digital evidences have been found and seized.


In the case of entities belonging to the first group, the seized documents clearly reveal that they have resorted to large-scale suppression of taxable income by inflating their expenses, primarily by way of the claim of non-genuine sub-contract expenses and unverifiable old sundry creditors. The search team has detected that these subcontracts have been awarded to family members and their employees who have not rendered services in this regard. Evidence has also been gathered about unrecorded expenses incurred in cash. The preliminary investigation indicates that this group has evaded income to the extent of Rs. 150 crore on account of the above malpractices.


In the case of the land developers, it has been found that a substantial part of the land transactions have been carried out in cash which are not accounted for in the regular books of account. Further, incriminating documents evidencing receipt of ‘on-money’ on land transactions and cash loans exceeding Rs. 52 crore have been found and seized. 


The search action has, so far, 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.


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RM/KMN




(Release ID: 1785759)
Visitor Counter : 187













Income Tax Department conducts search operations in Tamil Nadu

Dec 7, 2021 | Business


The Income Tax Department has carried out search and seizure operations on 01.12.2021 in respect of 2 groups engaged in the Retail Sales of Jewellery, Textiles and Home Appliances through their popular chain of Stores in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelveli. A total of 37 premises were covered in this action.


In the case of the first group, seized documents and other incriminating materials gathered during the course of the search have revealed, that, the assessee had been actively involved in systematically suppressing sales by manipulating their books of accounts. The extent of suppression of sales is found to be more than Rs. 1000 crore, over a period of several years.  It was also found, that, the assessee had made unaccounted cash purchases of about Rs. 150 crore in textile division and jewellery division, during the past few years.


In respect of the second group, incriminating material seized during the course of search, has revealed that the assessee group had obtained bogus bills from a set of parties to the tune of Rs. 80 crore and thereby suppressed taxable income. Evidences relating to the unaccounted purchases of gold have also been gathered. Besides, the assessee group is found to be debiting inflated making charges of jewellery. In addition, unaccounted rental receipts and the unaccounted scrap sales aggregating to Rs. 7 crore have also been detected.


The searches on the two groups have led to a seizure of cash of Rs. 10 crore and jewellery/ bullion worth about Rs. 6 crore.


Further investigations are under progress.


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RM/KMN




(Release ID: 1778753)
Visitor Counter : 289