Income Tax dept raids Bihar contractor, claims Rs 100 crore hidden income

New Delhi: Carrying out operations against alleged tax evasion by a contractor in Bihar and Jharkhand, Income Tax (I-T) department has seized unaccounted cash of Rs 5.71 crore and placed 10 bank lockers under restraint.

The investment made in fixed deposits and other instruments worth about Rs 60 crore are under verification.

The income tax department said that searches have revealed that the group had been suppressing its profits by inflating expenses on purchase of materials.

Further, such excess material was sold in the market in cash but the cash so generated remained unaccounted.

"It has been also found that the group has indulged in obtaining accommodation entries for inflating other business expenses. Incriminating documents such as handwritten diaries have been seized from the premises of commission agents who have been assisting the assessee group in these dubious practices," the I-T department said in a release.

The search and seizure operations against the contractor had been launched last week across various premises located in Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and West Bengal.

"The search action has led to the detection of unaccounted income to the tune of about Rs 100 crore. Further investigations are in progress," the statement said.

The tax department stated that the seized documents carry evidences of unaccounted cash generation and movement of material.

"The search operation has further revealed that the group is also suppressing contractual receipts and service income. It was further seen that the group is not maintaining proper books of accounts, including supporting documents like bills and vouchers," it said. (UNI)