Income Tax department unearthed Rs 29,764 crore in 2018-19 from the state, said a top official. This is almost eight times of Rs 3,755 crore of undisclosed income unearthed in 2017-18. Officials claimed that intensified efforts to find tax evasion has led to this disclosure.
The investigative wing of the department unearthed Rs 19,879.83 crore of undisclosed income because of search and seizure operations, while Rs 1,987.8 crore undeclared income was a result of survey operations and Rs 7,835 crore through internal intelligence. "This is because of special efforts carried out during the year by the entire staff," said a top official. The amount this year is 7.92 times of Rs 3,795 crore found in the fiscal 2017-18.
Ahmedabad zone dominated in finding of undisclosed income during the year. It contributed Rs 18,262.43 crore in undisclosed income that was admitted and detected, of which Rs 1,948.42 crore was admitted and assets worth Rs 59.83 crore were seized in cases of search and seizure. Similarly in case of surveys, undisclosed income admitted and seized was to the tune of Rs 1,799.51 crore.
Surat was way behind with Rs 1,617.40 crore in undisclosed income that was admitted and detected, of which Rs 17.17 crore and Rs 8.24 crore worth of assets seized. "This is because the post of Director Investigation was vacant for so long during the year. So the performance is for just about four or five months," said the official.
Rs 11.38 crore seized during elections
The department seized Rs 11.38 crore in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections in the state. Of this Rs 8.02 crore is in cash, while Rs 3.35 crore is in form of jewellery. The move was as a part of exercise to curb the misuse of cash during elections.
