I-T raids against real estate groups in Delhi unearth black money worth ₹215 cr

Income tax sleuths raided 33 premises of two property developers in Delhi and unearthed black money worth ₹215 crore. They said the accused dealt in cash while cracking real estate deals and thus evaded income tax.

The income tax (I-T) department has unearthed black money worth over ₹215 crore after it conducted multiple raids over the weekend against two real estate groups who were selling land and farm houses on the Yamuna plains to high-end investors in the national capital, officials said on Tuesday.

The real estate groups were allegedly selling land and farm houses on the Yamuna plains to high-end investors in the national capital. (Reuters/Photo for representation)

Sleuths of the Delhi investigation wing of the department searched and surveyed a total of 33 premises of the two property developers, whom they did not identify. They said the two developers largely dealt in cash while cracking these deals and thus evaded income tax along with their clients, who are now under the department’s scanner.

The modus operandi undertaken by the developers, sources said, was to file their I-T returns based on the sale of the property on actual circle rates but the actual transaction was priced “much higher”.

“The difference between the circle rate and actual rates was settled in cash which represented the unaccounted and undisclosed income of the sellers,” a senior official said.

He added that this technique was being used by the promoters of the real estate business and their clients for many years to hide their “true income” from the tax department.

The department is now scrutinising the list of the wealthy and high-net worth individuals who were investing their black money into these land and farm house investments in the Yamuna plains in the national capital region.

The total undisclosed cash transactions detected during these raids stands at ₹215 crore, they said.

The department, they said, will file tax evasion prosecution compliance against these people and will also separately prosecute them under I-T laws that bans accepting a cash amount of over ₹20,000 for selling an immovable property and this violation attracts a 100% penalty on the amount of tax evaded.

Also, holding cash of over ₹2 lakh is now banned and hence the department will penalise the erring assessees for this violation too, they said.