TLI Staff
New Delhi: In a major crackdown on tax-evading doctors and medical professionals in Assam, the Income Tax (I-T) department has conducted searches at 29 locations in the state across the three cities of Guwahati, Nalbari and Dibrugarh.
The doctors were reported to be grossly understating the medical receipts to evade taxes.
“Many documents and cash receipt slips were found which highlight the hugely suppressed turnover in the case of medical professionals and their hospitals/clinics. The quantum of suppressed turnover detected in few cases alone appears to be upward of Rs 50-60 crore,” said a press note from I-T department.
Under-reporting of income by medical professionals, lawyers, chartered accountants (CAs) and other white-collar service providers is rampant across the country. Due to poor enforcement of the Income Tax laws in smaller towns and cities, these professionals easily get away with their ill-gotten wealth.
During the course of the search action in Assam, the tax sleuths found huge amounts of kachha cash receipts and transaction were made outside the regular books of accounts. In one such case, it was found that an amount close to Rs 20 crore was undisclosed.
The accused doctors and medical are accused of grossly understating their medical receipts both in their individual capacities and the turnovers in their hospitals/nursing homes, diagnostic centres and pharmaceutical business.
The fraudsters maintained daily receipts digitally in Excel/hard disk at medical clinics that had not been recorded in the books of accounts.
“In all, unexplained investment/receipts/expenses exceeding Rs 100 crore has been unearthed due to the search and seizure action. Further investigations are in progress,” the I-T statement said.
In similar but separate operations in Hyderabad, the taxmen carried out searches on a prominent civil contractor accused of generating cash through the use of bogus sub-contracts and bogus billers in Telangana.
Several shell entities/firms were used by the searched entry operators for layering of unaccounted money and cash withdrawals against fake bills issued wherein bogus Input Tax Credit (ITC) was passed on. Statements of such entry operators, their dummy partners/employees, the cash handlers of the beneficiaries have also been recorded, clearly validating the entire money trail.
“The search has led to seizure of evidences of bogus sub-contracts being given through intermediaries operating shell entities. Evidence of the use of this modus to generate huge unaccounted cash was found along with details of the entire network of the entry operators, intermediaries, cash handlers, beneficiaries and the firms and companies involved,” the tax department said.
So far, documents evidencing accommodation entries of more than Rs 160 crore have already been found and seized. The assessee company has also admitted the same in its statement.