IT department unearths Rs 400 crore-dairy farming scam, searches over 30 premises in six cities

In a separate case, the IT department conducted searches at the premises of a real estate group in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai in connection with tax evasion on payments to the tune of Rs 300 crore.

New Delhi: The Income Tax carried out searches in over 30 premises across six cities in connection with a Pune-based group that allegedly indulged in a dairy farming-related scam involving unaccounted income to the tune of over Rs 400 crore.

The agency seized unaccounted cash and “unexplained” jewellery of about Rs 2.50 crore.

“The preliminary analysis of this evidence clearly shows evasion of taxable income by adopting various malpractices such as claim of bogus purchases, unaccounted cash sales, cash loan transactions and their repayment, unexplained cash credits, etc.,” said IT department in a statement.

“Instances of incorrect claim of loss on account of sale or death of livestock, etc. have also been noticed,” it added.

The department claimed that they have gathered evidence “revealing that the assessee group has not maintained proper and separate books of account for claiming specific deduction from its taxable income”.

“The search action, so far, has led to the detection of unaccounted income of more than Rs. 400 crore,” said the agency.

In a separate case, the IT department conducted searches at 30 premises of a real estate group in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. “The group did not deduct tax at source on certain payments claimed by it which aggregate to more than Rs 300 crore. Unaccounted cash over Rs 6 crore was seized,” said a CBDT spokesperson.