I-T’s big catch: Unearths income worth Rs 350 cr

The Income Tax authorities got the biggest disclosure of concealed income — worth Rs 350 crore — in Mumbai from raids on Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited, a prominent real estate company on Thursday and Friday. Manish Pachouly reports.

The Income Tax (I-T) authorities got the biggest disclosure of concealed income — worth Rs 350 crore — in Mumbai from raids on Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL), a prominent real estate company on Thursday and Friday.

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The I-T authorities had initially found unaccounted cash of Rs 1.5 crore but by going through the documents seized during the raids, they suspected a huge concealment.

“During questioning, the company owners accepted concealment of this huge income,” said an Income Tax official, requesting anonymity.

Boota Singh, director of Income Tax, Investigation Wing confirmed that searches were conducted on HDIL but refused to give details.

However, other senior officials said as per the regular rate, the company would have to pay around Rs 117 crore in tax on the concealed income disclosed by them. The department could also levy hefty penalty for tax evasion.

“The penalty could be from 100 to 300 per cent of the tax amount,” an official said.

During the raid on 12 places, in which about 125 Income Tax staff took part, the authorities found that the company was suppressing profit by inflating expenses by obtaining fake bills.

Income Tax officials said seized documents including account books and other financial records indicated heavy tax evasion.
“But we cross-checked the same with other sources and those who were dealing with the company, to establish our suspicion,” the official said.

The raid had begun on early Thursday and completed on Friday evening.

The cash of Rs 1.5 crore was seized from the Bandra residence of the owners.

The authorities had also sealed six bank lockers belonging to the owners of the company and their family members.
None of the company owners could be reached for comment.

“The raid is over. The Income Tax people have left. But the investigation is still on,” HDIL’s Managing Director Sarang Wadhwan told Press Trust of India over phone.