IT Dept unearths unaccounted income of over Rs 200 crore in searches at Punjab, J&K

The Income Tax Department unearthed unaccounted income exceeding Rs. 200 crore in search and seizure operations on persons engaged in the business of processing and trading dry fruits in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab on October 28.

A press release by the Ministry of Finance on Friday said Income Tax Department seized unaccounted cash of Rs 63 lakh and jewellery of Rs 2 crore in search operations, added the statement.

During the search operations, many incriminating documents including digital evidence were found and seized indicating that the assessee group has been inflating purchases of dry fruits exorbitantly over the years. Seized evidence also supports the fact that unaccounted cash has been received back by the directors of the group against payment made for such purchases, stated the press release.

Evidence was also unearthed that one of the assessees was maintaining a parallel set of books of accounts and there was a huge difference between the sales and purchases recorded in both the sets of books of accounts. One of the groups is also indulging in unaccounted purchases and sales of dry fruits, as per the statement

Excess stock to the tune of Rs. 40 crore has been found. The analysis of seized material and evidence collected reveals that one of the groups is also running a Benami proprietary concern.

In both the groups, the claim of deduction under section 80IB of the Income-tax Act, 1961 has been found to be not genuine and is estimated to be around Rs. 30 crore.