I-T dept detects Rs 175 cr dubious income, Rs 3 cr cash set aside for polls

Search and seizure on two groups of civil contractors in Southern Tamil Nadu; assessees suspected of booking bogus expenses to understate profits

The Income Tax Department has detected Rs 175 crore unaccounted income and about Rs 3 crore in cash, which it believes was to be distributed for election purposes.

The Department carried out search and seizure operations on March 3 on two groups of civil contractors in Southern Tamil Nadu. Searches and surveys were conducted in 18 premises, mainly in Madurai and Ramnad districts.

The operations were carried based on intelligence inputs about the existence of cash, which was likely to be distributed for election purposes, the Department said.

It added that it suspects that the assessees were booking bogus expenses under various heads to understate profits.

The declared profits were less than two per cent of the turnover, when in actual accounts the profits exceeded 20 per cent.

Similarly more than 100 subcontractors were introduced to book expenses to meet legal payments and on-money payments for property purchases. These subcontractors had filed returns of income from the same IP address and for the first time ever, showing only receipts as their sole income, the Department said.