For support, write to us on: admin@taxsutra.com
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
New Delhi, 20th March, 2022
PRESS RELEASE
Income Tax Department conducts searches on a Pune & Thane based unicorn start-up group
Income Tax Department conducted a Search & Seizure operation on a Pune & Thane based unicorn start-up group, primarily engaged in the business of wholesale and retail of construction material, on 09.03.2022. The group has Pan-India presence having annual turnover exceeding Rs. 6,000 crore. A total of 23 premises were covered in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, in the search operation.
A large number of incriminating evidences in the form of hard copy documents and digital data have been found & seized during the search operations. These evidences revealed that the group has booked bogus purchases, made huge unaccounted cash expenditure and obtained accommodation entries, aggregating to the tune of over Rs. 400 crore. These evidences were confronted to the Directors of the group, who admitted under oath this modus operandi, disclosed additional income of more than Rs. 224 crore in various assessment years, and consequently offered to pay their due tax liability.
The search action also revealed that the group had obtained huge foreign funding via the Mauritius route, by issuing shares at exorbitantly high premium.
During the search operation, a complex hawala network of some Mumbai and Thane based shell companies, was also unearthed. These shell companies exist on paper, and were created only for the purpose of providing accommodation entries. Preliminary analysis has revealed that the total quantum of accommodation entries provided by these shell entities exceeds Rs. 1,500 crore.
So far, unaccounted cash of Rs. 1 crore and jewellery of the value of Rs. 22 lakh have been seized.
Further investigations are under progress.
(Surabhi Ahluwalia)
Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Policy)
Official Spokesperson, CBDT
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
New Delhi, 16th March, 2022
PRESS RELEASE
More than 6.63 crore Income Tax Returns (ITRs) and 99.27 lakh statutory forms
filed on the new e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department More than 6.63 crore Income Tax Returns (ITRs) were filed for AY 2021-22 on the new e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department as on 15th March, 2022, which was the due date for filing of ITRs by Companies and other taxpayers who were required to file Tax Audit Report. As on 15 th March, 2022 more than 5.43 lakh ITRs were filed (compared to 4.77 lakh last year on the due date) and over 13.84 lakh ITRs were filed in the last 5 days (compared to 11.87 lakh last year on the due date).
Out of the 6.63 crore ITRs filed for AY 2021-22, 46% are ITR-1 (3.03 crore), 9% are ITR-2 (57.6 lakh), 15% are ITR-3 (1.02 crore), 26% are ITR-4 (1.75 crore), 2% are ITR-5 (15.1 lakh), ITR-6 (9.3 lakh) and ITR-7 (2.18 lakh). This reflects an increase of over 16.7 lakh ITRs over total filing of ITRs for AY 2020-21 till 15.03.2021.
Over 43% of these ITRs have been filed using the online ITR form on the portal and the balance have been uploaded using the ITR created from the offline ITR preparation software utilities, including Departmental software.
Further, out of the 6.63 crore ITRs filed for AY 2021-22, more than 6.01 crore ITRs have been verified (75% using Aadhaar OTP). Out of the verified ITRs, more than 5.17 crore ITRs have been processed and 1.83 crore refunds for AY 2021-22
have been issued till 15.03.2022.
More than 99.27 lakh statutory forms were filed in FY 2021-22 till 15 th March, 2022 on the new portal including 26.19 lakh Form 3CB-CD, 2.76 lakh Form 3CA- 3CD, 20.9 lakh Form 15CA, 5.4 lakh Form 15CB, 2.27 lakh 10A, 5.86 lakh 10E, 77,634 Form 35 and 23.79 lakh TDS statements. The extended due date for filing of form 3CFA, 3CEAA, 3CLA, 9A, 10, 10IB/IC/ID, 10CCF, 56FF was 15th March, 2022 for which total filings till 15th March, 2022 is nearly 1.64 lakh.
To assist taxpayers with a smooth experience on the portal, over 8,500 taxpayer calls and 260 chats were responded to by the helpdesk only on 15th March, 2022 itself. Two email ids were created to resolve grievances of taxpayers in an expeditious manner related to uploading of ITRs (itr.helpdesk@incometax.gov.in) and Tax Audit Report (TAR) (tar.helpdesk@incometax.gov.in). In this regard, 16,252 emails were received, of which 16,233 were resolved by 15 th March, 2022. In addition to the above, the Department has been proactively engaging with and reaching out to taxpayers and professionals for assistance through its official Twitter handle on a continuous basis and through direct webex calls/webinars for better handholding.
The Department expresses gratitude to all tax professionals and taxpayers for the support in timely compliances. Taxpayers and tax professionals are also requested to note that the last date of filing belated return, revised return, linking of Aadhaar and PAN and compliance to the e-proceedings for assessment etc. is 31.03.2022.
(Surabhi Ahluwalia)
Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Policy)
Official Spokesperson, CBDT
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
PRESS RELEASE
Income Tax Department conducts searches in a major Telecom Group
The Income Tax Department conducted search & seizure operations on a multinational group, engaged in distribution of telecom products and providing captive software development services, on 15.02.2022. The ultimate shareholding of the group lies with a foreign entity of a neighbouring country. The searches, which were spread across Delhi, Gurugram and Bengaluru covered the main business premises and also the residential premises of the key office bearers.
The search action has revealed that the group has made inflated payments against receipt of technical services from its related parties outside India. The assessee company could not justify the genuineness of obtaining of such alleged technical services in lieu of which payment has been made as also the basis of determination of consideration for the same. The expenses debited by the assessee company towards receipt of such services are to the tune of Rs. 129 crore over a period of five years.
During the search, it was found that, the assessee group has debited more than Rs.350 crore in its books of account in recent financial years towards royalty to its related party. Such expenses have been incurred for the use of brand and technical know-how related intangibles. During the search, the group has failed to substantiate receipt of any such services/technical know-how, or the basis of quantification of royalty rate for such claim. Consequently, the rendering of services and such royalty payments become highly questionable and prima facie, disallowable as business expenses as per extant Income Tax law.
Evidences gathered and statements recorded during the search also reveal that one of the group entities engaged in providing software development services, has been disclosing lower net margins from the related parties, by claiming its operation to be of low-end nature. However, the evidences collected during the investigation indicated that this entity has been rendering significant services/operations of high-end nature. On this aspect, suppression of income of Rs. 400 crore has been detected.
The search action has further revealed that the group has manipulated its books of account to reduce its taxable income in India through creation of various provisions for expenses, such as provisions for obsolescence, provisions for warranty, doubtful debts/ loans & advances etc., which have little or no scientific/financial rationale. During the investigation, the group has failed to provide any substantial and appropriate justification for such claims.
Further investigations are in progress.
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
New Delhi, 24th February, 2022
PRESS RELEASE
Income Tax Department conducts searches on a group engaged in organizing multi-state gaming activities, online betting, etc.
The Income Tax Department conducted search and seizure operations on a business group engaged in gaming activity, online betting (including cricket betting), etc. on 15.02.2022. Total of 29 premises spread over Mumbai, Delhi, Surat, Jaipur,
Pune and Kolkata were covered. The search action revealed that the group was operating in a clandestine manner and had concealed its operations and income from law enforcement agencies. The revenue generated by the group from its activities is largely in cash.
The group operates from Mumbai and has a wide network of agents and area managers in different cities for collection of cash from large customer base who use the websites hosted on cloud servers by private operators. It was detected during the search that, after allotting IDs and passwords to the customers, points are credited into their accounts by agents/area managers after collecting cash from them. The cash is then sent to Mumbai through hawala operators. Handwritten notes, documents and digital evidence containing detailed account of daily cash transactions to be introduced in the books of account have been seized during the search.
The search revealed that the group has been introducing its unaccounted cash into books of account as unsecured loans, security premium, partner’s capital, agricultural income, share transactions, commission and trading income, etc., in the form of accommodation entries. This cash has been routed through several layers of dummy/shell companies controlled by the entry provider groups or through hawala channels. The amounts introduced in the books of account have been invested in real estate and securities market. Preliminary investigation has revealed cash turnover of more than Rs. 600 crore in the last 6 months or so.
Listed securities worth more than Rs. 550 crore and 30 bank accounts have been provisionally attached so far. Cash (including foreign currency) of Rs. 3.08 crore and jewellery worth Rs. 81 lakh has been seized.
Further investigations are in progress.
(Surabhi Ahluwalia)
Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Policy)
Official Spokesperson, CBDT
Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Direct Taxes
New Delhi, 16th February, 2022
PRESS RELEASE
More than 29.8 lakh major Tax Audit Reports(TARs) filed on the e-Filing portal of the Income Tax Department
More than 29.8 lakh major Tax Audit Reports(TARs) have been filed on the e-Filing portal of the Income Tax Department as on 15th February, 2022. On the last day, over 4.14 lakh major Tax Audit Reports/forms have been filed.
Out of 29.8 lakh of the major statutory forms, over 2.65 lakh Form 3CA-3CD and around 24.5 lakh Form 3CB-3CD have been filed in FY 21-22. More than 2.71 lakh other Tax Audit Reports (Form 10B, 29B, 29C, 3CEB, 10CCB, 10 BB) have been filed till 15.02.2022.
On 15.02.2022, 34,842 Form 3CA-3CD(out of total of 2,65,153), 3,36,842 Form 3CB-3CD (out of total of 24,48,950), 18,644 Form 10B (out of total of 1,50,950), 11,852 Form 29B (out of total of 74,923), 478 Form 29C (out of total of 2,820), 10,542 Form 3CEB (out of total of 33,345), 873 of Form 10CCB (out of total of 4,904) and 570 of Form 10BB (out of total of 3851) have been filed. On the last date i.e. the extended due date of 15.02.2022, 14% of these statutory forms and in the last 5 days from 11.02.2022 to 15.02.2022, 30% of these statutory forms were filed.
Further, more than 5.41 crore Income Tax Returns(ITRs) filed have been verified out of 6.26 crore ITRs filed for AY 2021-22. Of the verified ITRs, more than 4.50 crore ITRs have been processed and 1.58 crore refunds for AY 2021-22 have
been issued.
The Department expresses gratitude to all tax professionals and taxpayers for the support in compliances and requests the attention of taxpayers who are yet to accept the Tax Audit Report submitted by their CA to complete the process of submission.
(Surabhi Ahluwalia)
Commissioner of Income Tax
(Media & Technical Policy)
Official Spokesperson, CBDT