CA’s refund racket busted in Bengaluru
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bengaluru: The income tax department on Thursday busted a racket in which tax refunds running into crores were fraudulently claimed by employees of around 50 companies in Bengaluru, including Infosys, IBM, Biocon and Vodafone.
I-T officials of Karnataka and Goa found the employees had availed the services of a chartered accountant in Bengaluru, who filed false returns for them and secured refunds amounting to Rs 18 crore. The CA, the employees told investigators, took a 10% cut on the refund.
The I-T department said its investigation wing searched the premises of the chartered accountant on Wednesday and seized bogus claim documents of his clients. They also found WhatsApp chat messages related to the fudging. The department is yet to name the CA.
Investigators said the CA filed revised returns for his clients, making false or inflated claim of loss from house property – which reduced their tax liability and ensured a refund. Loss from house property refers to the loss suffered by the taxpayer in occupying or renting out the house he owns against interest paid on the housing loan.
The CA filed nearly 1,000 false returns, adding up to a loss claim of Rs 18 crore. Some of these employees were also questioned in their respective offices. Besides the companies already mentioned, the CA’s client list included employees of SAP Labs, ICICI Bank, Cisco and Thomson Reuters India.
I-T officials said the employees admitted they did not have any “real loss” to declare from house property. They claimed that the CA had told them he could get them a refund by manipulating claims. He also took a 10% commission on the refund as “incidental charges”, they said. The employees shared some WhatsApp messages as supporting evidence.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bengaluru: The income tax department on Thursday busted a racket in which tax refunds running into crores were fraudulently claimed by employees of around 50 companies in Bengaluru, including Infosys, IBM, Biocon and Vodafone.
I-T officials of Karnataka and Goa found the employees had availed the services of a chartered accountant in Bengaluru, who filed false returns for them and secured refunds amounting to Rs 18 crore. The CA, the employees told investigators, took a 10% cut on the refund.
The I-T department said its investigation wing searched the premises of the chartered accountant on Wednesday and seized bogus claim documents of his clients. They also found WhatsApp chat messages related to the fudging. The department is yet to name the CA.
Investigators said the CA filed revised returns for his clients, making false or inflated claim of loss from house property – which reduced their tax liability and ensured a refund. Loss from house property refers to the loss suffered by the taxpayer in occupying or renting out the house he owns against interest paid on the housing loan.
The CA filed nearly 1,000 false returns, adding up to a loss claim of Rs 18 crore. Some of these employees were also questioned in their respective offices. Besides the companies already mentioned, the CA’s client list included employees of SAP Labs, ICICI Bank, Cisco and Thomson Reuters India.
I-T officials said the employees admitted they did not have any “real loss” to declare from house property. They claimed that the CA had told them he could get them a refund by manipulating claims. He also took a 10% commission on the refund as “incidental charges”, they said. The employees shared some WhatsApp messages as supporting evidence.
No comments:
Post a Comment