The income tax (I-T) department on Wednesday continued its survey at the offices of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai for the second day, sources say.
On Tuesday, the I-T department conducted a survey at BBC’s offices in Delhi and Mumbai in view of the British public broadcaster’s “deliberate non-compliance” with the Transfer Pricing Rules and its vast diversion of profits. Yesterday, the sleuths arrived at the BBC offices located at the national capital’s KG Marg and Mumbai’s Kalina Santacruz for the survey. In the case of the BBC, sources said there has been persistent non-compliance with the above mentioned rules for years. As a result of the same, several notices have been issued to the BBC. However, the BBC has been continuously defiant and non-compliant and has significantly diverted its profits, sources said.
Sources said the above exercise, conducted by the tax authorities, is called “survey”, not search or raid as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act. Such surveys are routinely conducted and are not to be confused to be in the nature of a search/raid, said sources.
The key focus of these surveys is to look into the manipulation of prices for unauthorised benefits, including tax advantages. These surveys have been undertaken due to BBC’s persistent non-compliance of the norms, making it a repeat offender.