From Bhupen Goswami
GUWAHATI : The Income Tax Department has conducted raids at 29 locations in Guwahati, Nalbari and Dibrugarh in Assam on January 8. In Assam, the income Tax department has detected tax evasion of over 200 crore rupees of black money in a raid on some major doctors and medical personnel. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) today said that search and survey operations were conducted on 8th January at 29 locations in the state’s major cities of Guwahati, Nalbari and Dibrugarh and cash was seized of Rs 7.54 crore from searches at various premises. This includes rs 1.76 crore cash recovered from Nalbari.
“There is no satisfactory response regarding the cash seized from various hospitals and medical professionals,” the board said. He says that the department found that the income of these hospitals/clinics has been greatly reduced. “The main allegation against these groups is that they have also shown a very low income privately and in their hospitals, nursing homes, path labs, etc.,” the board said in a statement issued here. “Rs 200 crore has been received during the search and seizure operation. It is noteworthy that the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) makes policy formulations for the tax department. The ministry said that documents of land or immovable properties purchased by cash payment were also confiscated. Handwritten notes of investment made in real estate in cash of about Rs. 50 crore were also confiscated.
All investments, receipts and expenditure without explanation are more than 200 crore. A senior income tax official said today that the cash generated was diverted into the construction of new hospitals, reconstruction of nursing homes and acquisition of undisclosed assets. Large quantities of kacha cash receipts and transactions were made outside regular books of accounts. In addition, daily receipts are used to excel in medical clinics/colleges. The hard disk was digitally maintained which was not recorded in the books of accounts. In the case of a medical practitioner, the annual receipts were around Rs 15-20 crore, while in audited books, they only showed a gross receipt of about Rs 5 crore. The investigation into the case is continuing, officials said.
