Income Tax department attaches benami properties worth Rs 39 billion

Show cause notices for provisional attachment of benami properties were issued in over 1,500 cases.

Business News : Income tax department has provisionally attached benami properties of over Rs 39 billion in more than 1,200 cases, the Finance Ministry informed the Rajya Sabha today.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla also said the tax department has identified more than 1,600 benami transactions till end-February.

“Show cause notices for provisional attachment of benami properties were issued in over 1,500 cases and provisional attachment has been made in over 1,200 cases.

The value of properties under attachment is over Rs 39 billion,” he said.

In another reply, Shukla said till date, in three phases of ‘operation clean money’, the income tax department has identified around 22.69 lakh persons whose tax profile was found to be inconsistent with the case deposits made by them during the demonetisation period.

“Total case to the tune of Rs 5.27 lakh crore has been found to be deposited in bank accounts in case of these 22.69 lakh taxpayers during demonetisation period,” Shukla said.

However, the unaccounted income in such transactions, if any, can be quantified only after completion of the verification/assessment process.

→ Benami Property Act ←

I-T action on USV India puts spotlight on pharma marketing code, tax rules

Tax sleuths raid firm's premises in Mumbai, Nagpur, and Rajkot; USV denies violation of any regulations

The income tax department raid on drug maker USV India on costs of paying off doctors to prescribe its drugs has placed the spotlight on government norms on moral advertising practices and tax rules.

The times of India stated on Tuesday that the Income tax Return department had unearthed a nexus among the pharmaceutical company and medical doctors and had raided USV's premises in Mumbai, Nagpur, and Rajkot. USV confirmed the raid however denied violation of any guidelines.

 

Pharmaceutical industry executives expressed surprise over I-T raids on a drug maker, while some professionals said the problem will be purely tax-related — regarding the remedy of expenses for tax calculation. Deviating from its earlier stance, the income Tax Appellate Tribunal had in January allowed drug company PHL Pharma to claim a deduction on charges of Rs 23 crore, attributable to travel and accommodation for seminars and subscription of journals for medical doctors, among other things.

The income tax filing departmental action, but, has brought to the fore a draft policy to curb freebies and payments to doctors. A mandatory code for pharmaceutical marketing practices has been putting fire for the past numerous months. The department of pharmaceuticals' plan to introduce the code under the essential Commodities Act has faced competition from the law ministry and the industry.

The draft code proposed with the aid of the government goals to regulate unethical marketing practices and prohibits pharmaceutical agencies from giving presents, cash, and other benefits to doctors. in addition, under the code, companies are barred from extending hospitality, like hotel, or arranging trips for docs. The draft proposes consequences and revocation of product approvals in.... Read Full Article

Cafe Coffee Day raids: Income tax dept detects Rs 650 cr concealed income

Searches concluded with the group's officials admitting to concealed income exceeding Rs 650 crore

 

 

The Income Tax Department raids on Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) retail chain since Thursday found Rs 650 crore concealed income from the documents seized, said an official on Sunday.

"Documents seized from the search operations at 25 places of Cafe Coffee Day and its group companies in Karnataka, Mumbai and Chennai have revealed concealed income of over Rs 650 crore," a senior tax official told IANS here.

The search and seize operations, which began on September 21, concluded on Sunday evening in the offices of the group involved in coffee, tourism, IT Return and other areas.

"The searches concluded with the group's officials admitting to concealed income exceeding Rs 650 crore and the detection of undisclosed income, which is expected to be a much higher figure," said another tax filing official in an e-mail to IANS.

The offices and residence of CCD's founder-owner V G Siddhartha and its other officials in Bengaluru, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan and Mysuru across Karnataka were also searched during the last four days. Siddhartha is the elder son-in-law of former External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who was also Chief Minister from 1999 to 2004 but earlier this year left the Congress to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

"There are a number of other issues, including violations of other statutes on which there is no disclosure but relevant evidence has been found. These will be pursued effectively as part of our investigation," added the official in.... Read Full Article

IT raids Karnataka minister D K Shivakumar's houses; seizes Rs 10 cr

Congress claimed that the raids were an attempt to terrorise its Gujarat MLAs ahead of state polls

 

 

Income Tax Department officials on Wednesday raided Karnataka Power Minister D.K. Shivakumar's residences and a private resort outside Bengaluru where 44 Gujarat Congress legislators are housed and said Rs 10 crore in cash have been seized.

The taxmen's searches stoked a major political row as the development echoed in Parliament and triggered cries of foul play by the Congress.

"Our state Investigative Wing is conducting searches at the residence of a Karnataka Minister (Shivakumar) and the room he is staying at a resort (Eagleton) near Bengaluru where some MLAs from another state (Gujarat) are put up," Income Tax efiling Joint Commissioner S. Ramesh said in a statement in Bengaluru.

The searches were conducted under Section 132 of the Income Tax Act as an evidence-gathering exercise in compliance with statutory requirements, he said.

The searches were believed to have been conducted at Shivakumar's houses in Bengaluru and Delhi. Officials said Shivakumar's aide and his driver have been detained for questioning.
"The Efiling of Income Tax officials seized over Rs 10 crore during the raids at over 39 places in Delhi and Bengaluru," an IT official told IANS.

"About Rs 7.5 crore was seized in Delhi and Rs 2.5 crore in Bengaluru," ....... Read Full Article

IT recovers Rs 5 cr from Karnataka minister managing Gujarat Congress MLAs

They said only the minister's room in the resort was searched and not of the MLAs from Gujarat

 

 

The Income Tax Department Tuesday conducted searches at multiple properties related to Karnataka Energy minister D K Shivakumar, who was overseeing the stay of 44 Congress MLAs from Gujarat at a resort near Bengaluru, in connection with a tax evasion case.

IT officials said Rs 5 crore cash was recovered from the Delhi residence of the minister, who has been taken to his house in Bengaluru from the resort by the IT team.

Officials privy to the early morning raids said I-T sleuths reached the Eagleton resort near here to question the minister, who was staying at the resort for the night.

The minister, was in charge of the 44 MLAs lodged there, to keep the flock together for preventing the BJP from allegedly "poaching" on them, was at the resort when the search took place, IT officials said.  → Income tax Efiling ←

As the raids on the resort triggered angry reactions from the Congress, the IT department said the resort is not being raided.

They said only the minister's room in the resort was "searched" and not of the MLAs from Gujarat. → Efiling Of Income Tax ←

"The search team has no concern with the MLAs and there has been no contact with MLAs and the search team," the deparment said in a statement.

The department is also investigating charges of alleged role of money power and huge transfer of illegal funds for these polls...... Read article Source

NDTV case: Don't take coercive step, HC to I-T dept on Rs-428 cr demand

No coercive step against NDTV on Rs-428 cr I-T demand: HC



The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Income Tax department not to take any coercive step against media house New Delhi Television (NDTV) in connection with a Rs 428- crore demand raised by the authority.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Pratibha M Singh said it was "satisfied" that there was a prima facie case in favour of NDTV.

The court also issued notice to the IT return department and sought its reply on the television channel's plea challenging the demand order of July 26 and a show cause notice of the same day. The notice was issued for failure to pay the amount in time.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for NDTV, contended that the July 26 order was "without jurisdiction" and based on "piecemeal assessment".

Pulling up the tax authority for issuing the demand order and the notice, the bench noted that the time given for deposit of the amount was 'immediately now' which appeared to be an "over enthusiastic step" and "on the face of it illegal".

"How can you pass penalty order when no time has been given for payment of the amount which was determined on July 26," the court asked the I-T department.....Read  Article Source

IT raids Karnataka minister's home, Bengaluru resort housing Gujarat MLAs

The raids started at 7 am this morning, Congress lawmaker N Ravi's house raided too

 

 

Income Tax Filing (IT) sleuths on Wednesday began conducting raids at the official residence of Karnataka Power Minister D K Shivakumar and at Eagleton Golf resort near Bengaluru where 44 Congress lawmakers from Gujarat are staying.

"Yes, raids are underway at the Minister's house and the resort. Our teams have gone to search the places," a senior tax officer told IANS on condition of anonymity.
Raid was also being conducted at the house of Congress lawmaker N Ravi in the city's southern suburb.  → Tax Filing ←

The raids took place at minister's residence in Kanakapura, Sadashivanagar and at rooms of Congress Party MLAs in the resort.

The raids started at 7 am this morning and are still underway.

Shivkumar was in-charge of hospitality for all CongressGujarat MLAs staying in Bengaluru.
"As the searches are on, we cannot give details now. We are not authorised to brief media about such things. Our officers will brief," added the official.

A representative of Eagleton Golf Resort declined to confirm if income tax return department raids were conducted in the 35 deluxe rooms where the Gujarat Congress MLAs have been staying since Saturday.

The Congress legislators were flown to Bengaluru from Ahmedabad and lodged in the posh resort at Bidadi, about 30 km from here, ostensibly to prevent the BJP from poaching them ahead of the August 8 Rajya Sabha by-poll in ....Read Full Article