Income Tax raids on film producers, distributors in Tamil Nadu
The Income Tax Department raided 40 premises located in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Vellore belonging to certain producers, distributors, and financiers associated with the film industry
PremiumThe Income Tax Department on Saturday conducted raids at multiple locations belonging to people connected with the film industry. The raids were conducted at 40 premises in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Vellore.
The raid on film producers, distributors, and financiers associated with the film industry comes after the search and seizure operations were carried out on 2nd August 2022.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement that several incriminating documents and digital evidence related to unaccounted cash transactions and investments have been seized. The CBDT also unearthed secret and hidden premises at locations.
The search operation has resulted in the seizure of undisclosed income exceeding ₹200 crore which includes cash of ₹26 crore and gold jewelry of around ₹3 crore.
The CBDT collected pieces of evidence that reveal tax evasion. The department claims that the actual amount earned from films is much more than the amounts shown in books for assessment.
The searches of the premises of film financers revealed documents like promissory notes etc. which are related to unaccounted cash loans. These loans were advanced to multiple film production houses and others.
The unaccounted income generated was also deployed for undisclosed investments as well as undisclosed payments.
The evidence also points towards unaccounted cash collection from the theaters by film distributors.
“As per the evidences, the distributors have formed syndicates and have systematically suppressed the theatre collections, resulting in the suppression of actual income," the CBDT said according to news agency ANI.
With Inputs from ANI.
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