'Rs 1k crore undisclosed income unearthed after demonetisation'

Director General of Income Tax (Investigation), Karnataka State and Goa, B R Balakrishnan on Monday asserted that a total of Rs 4,300 crore of undisclosed income has been reported in the current financial year.

Briefing mediapersons after inaugurating the new office of the Additional Director of Income Tax (Investigation) at the ground floor of Albuquerque Building at Pandeshwar here, Balakrishnan said, “Of the total Rs 4,300 crore undisclosed income, more than Rs 1,000 crore was unearthed after demonetisation (scrapping of old currency notes in the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000).”

However, as it is a continuous process, the exact tabulation of such tax evading income may take another three to four months as many other Central agencies too are keeping a tab on such illegal activities, he added.

Referring to Mangaluru, Balakrishnan said the highest of Rs 172 crore was unearthed during one particular search on February 1, as admitted by the people in question, irrespective of co-operative society, firms and also individuals. The raids were also conducted at Udupi, Puttur, Karkala, Chikkamagaluru and Bengaluru, he explained.

Replying to media queries, he said it will take some more time to estimate the concealed amount as the investigation has begun from February 1. The issue is not just related to suspected deposits in the societies, but also about the administrative lapses in a blatant manner, without following KYC  norms. In some cases, people may also be unwilling to disclose pre-requisite information abiding by KYC norms, he added.

On the cases filed, Balakrishnan said, over 150 cases have been already filed, with the managing director of a reputed hospital in Bengaluru convicted in the recent past, with two more expected to follow suit.

When it was brought to his notice that the cooperative societies in particular are claiming that most of the amount deposited in them belonged to banks at grassroots level, Principal Director (Investigation), Bengaluru, Kishore Kumar Vyawahare clarified that the department is also aware that such banks form the first layer of the system.

Narottam Mishra, principal commissioner of IT, Mangaluru, said notices have been served on 80 lakh depositors across the country. Eight lakh depositors among them have already replied to the notices, he added.

Saying that there is an increase in work load and shortage of staff in Mangaluru too, Mishra said there is 60% deficiency of staff in Mangaluru.

The office of Additional Director of Income Tax (Investigation) earlier functioning at Attavar will be henceforth functioning from the new office at Albuquerque building at Pandeshwar.