Income Tax dept detects tax evasion after raids on 2 Indore groups

The Income Tax department has alleged tax evasion worth crores of rupees after it raided two Indore-based businesses engaged in mining, media and cable TV services, and the other running a coaching group, over a week back, the CBDT said on Friday.

The searches were carried out on more than 70 premises in six states, including Madhya Pradesh, against the two unidentified groups on November 25.

''Incriminating documentary and digital evidence, including parallel set of financial records of some of the businesses have been seized.

''A preliminary analysis of these evidences shows evasion of taxable income by adopting various malpractices, particularly suppression of sales in mining business,'' the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) claimed in a statement.

Similar large-scale tax evasion has been found in the business of the cable TV service, it said.

The statement claimed that evidences of ''other malpractices such as payment of on-money (cash), suspected benami transactions, unaccounted expenditure incurred in cash, undisclosed investment in immovable properties, among others, have also been found''. It said the group has also taken accommodation entries in the form of bogus unsecured loans exceeding Rs 40 crore from various shell companies managed by entry operators. ''The main entry operator, the key handler, and several dummy directors of the shell companies have been identified, traced and covered during the search operation. The dummy directors and key handler have admitted that the companies are merely paper entities, and they are working at the behest of the main entry operator,'' it said. Also, the statement said, documents seized from the coaching group ''clearly shows suppression of cash receipts from students which is in excess of Rs 25 crore''. ''The analysis of seized evidence also indicates that this group is systematically suppressing its royalty receipts and profit share income from its various franchisees.

''Unaccounted cash exceeding Rs 10 crore has been received on such accounts,'' it claimed.

Cash worth Rs 2 crore was seized during the raids on the two groups, it added. PTI NES SRY

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