I-T dept finds Rs 300-cr unaccounted transactions after raids on Gujarat business group

The income tax department has detected unaccounted transactions of more than Rs 300 crore after it raided a Gujarat-based business group engaged in manufacturing of ceramic tiles early this month, the CBDT said Tuesday. The searches were launched on August 9 and 36 premises spread across Rajkot, Morbi, Ahmedabad, Raipur, Guwahati, Gurugram and Kolkata were covered.

Initial analysis of seized documents and digital data shows that the group has been engaged in "large-scale tax evasion" by adopting various methods, including, by way of unaccounted cash sales outside the books of account, under invoicing of sales and booking of bogus purchases, the CBDT said in a statement.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is the administrative authority for the income tax department.

"The group has also been found to be involved in layering of unaccounted sums through bogus unsecured loans from related parties and share capital from Kolkata-based shell companies," it said.

The group's involvement, the statement said, in routing of "unaccounted" funds into the regular books of account using accommodation (hawala) entries provided by a Gujarat-based person engaged in providing finance, has also been found.

"So far, the search action has resulted in unearthing of unaccounted transactions exceeding Rs 300 crore, including cash loans of more than Rs 100 crore," it said.