Petition against businessman for tax evasion to the tune of Rs 28 crore

COIMBATORE: The Income Tax (IT) department has filed a petition before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court on Friday, accusing three people, a businessman, an auditor and a realtor, of tax evasion to the tune of 30 crores. Anand Palanisami, chairman of Anand Palanisami group of companies, was accused of tax evasion to the tune of 28 crores.
According to sources, Anand Palanisami group of companies did not file income tax for the last seven years."We have reviewed their bank transactions over the last seven years and accessed that the firm has to pay 28crore as income tax to the department. We have sent repeated notices to the companies and have given them a grace period of 30 days to pay the dues. However, the firm ignored our notices and are yet to pay the dues," said a senior officer on the case.
The officials had asked the chairman Anand Palanisami to appear before them and produce the necessary documents. But he has failed to submit any documents relating to financial transactions.
When contacted, Anand Palanisami said that he would appeal before the court. "Yes, I have not paid the 28crores due in taxes. I plan to take this issue up legally," he said.
Bose Ebenezer, an auditor from Saibaba Colony, has also been charged with tax evasion to the tune of 1.40crores. Sources said that although Bose Ebenezer had filed income tax for three years, he mentioned that his earnings were below 2lakh for all three years. The following three years, he claimed to have earned a little over 3lakh annually and got away with paying minimal taxes.
"We reviewed his bank account details and came to know transactions worth several crores of rupees had taken place. Subsequently, we raided his office and collected relevant documents last year. We gave him adequate time to pay his taxes," said a senior officer. Based on his bank transactions, IT department officials have assessed his tax dues to be 1.40crores.
P Padmanaban, a realtor from Thirumurugan Nagar on Veeriampalayam road here, was accused of tax evasion to the tune of 95lakhs. He did not pay his returns in last financial year. "We accessed his bank transaction details in March. Since these three people have not responded to our notices, we decided to take the issue to court," said the senior officer.
The court would issue notices to the trio asking them to appear before the court after receiving summons.