Income Tax Department conducts search operations in Tamil Nadu

Income Tax Department conducts search operations in Tamil Nadu On December 1, 2021, the Income Tax Department conducted search and seizure operations in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, and Tirunelveli in relation to two groups engaged in the retail sale of jewellery, textiles, and home appliances through their well-known chain of stores. This activity affected a total of 37 locations. Seized documents and other incriminating materials discovered during the search proved that the assesses had been actively involved in systematically reducing sales by altering their books of accounts in the instance of the first group. Over a period of several years, sales were suppressed to the tune of more than Rs. 1000 crore. The assessee was also discovered to have made unauthorised cash purchases of roughly Rs. 150 crore in the textile and jewellery divisions during the previous few years. In the case of the second group, incriminating evidence recovered during the search revealed that the assessee group had gotten bogus bills worth Rs. 80 crore from a number of persons, hence concealing taxable income. Evidence of gold purchases that were not accounted for has also been gathered. Furthermore, the assessee group is found to be debiting exaggerated jewellery making charges. Additionally, unauthorised rental earnings and unaccounted scrap sales of Rs. 7 crore were discovered. The searches on the two groups resulted in the seizure of Rs. 10 crore in cash and Rs. 6 crore in jewellery and silver. Further investigations are being carried out.