TN: I-T dept detects Rs 400-cr tax evasion after raids on hospitality group

The Income Tax department has detected a "large-scale tax evasion" of over Rs 400 crore after recently raiding a Tamil Nadu-based group engaged in liquor manufacturing and hospitality, the CBDT said on Monday.

The raids were launched on June 15 and more than 40 premises in cities such as Chennai, Viluppuram, Coimbatore, and Hyderabad were covered.

"Undisclosed cash of Rs 3 crore and unaccounted gold jewellery worth Rs 2.5 crore have been seized so far," the CBDT said in a statement.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) frames policy for the tax department.

It, however, did not identify the business group that is engaged in logistics, entertainment, hospitality and liquor manufacturing.

An analysis of the seized documents and digital gadgets "indicates that the assessee group has indulged in large-scale tax evasion exceeding Rs 400 crore by debiting non-genuine purchase bills in the books of account of varied businesses."

"These non-genuine purchase bills were either obtained from its regular material suppliers or accommodation entry providers (fake business entry providers)," the statement said.

The seized documents show that payments made to the material suppliers through cheques have been received back in "cash" for making "unaccounted" investments and also for other purposes.

"The group is also found to be controlling back-office operations of its international chain of hotels from India," it said.