Tax evaders in Delhi admit to dodging Rs 860 cr

Search and seizure operations by the revenue authorities have forced tax evaders in the national capital to cave in and admit that they owe the government more than Rs 860 crore (Rs 8.6 billion) for the last fiscal.

According to an official report of the department, taxmen carried out search, seizure and survey operations in nearly 80 cases, including 30 major ones.

The department also seized jewellery worth Rs 12.93 crore (Rs 129.3 million) and confiscated Rs 27.77 crore (Rs 277.7 million) in cash from the offices and premises of individual and corporate taxpayers.

"The I-T department, in the last fiscal, also made the largest cash haul of Rs 14 crore (Rs 140 million) from a single survey on a prominent gutka manufacturer of northern India," an official source said.

Those covered by these operations include real estate firms, infrastructure leasing and building companies, pan masala outfits and the retail business.

The department unearthed evaded tax of Rs 705 crore (Rs 7.05 billion) during operations on residential premises, while they stumbled on Rs 154 crore (Rs 1.54 billion) in surveys at offices and corporate headquarters.

The report also mentioned that the searches were carried out in the NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh among others, the report said.