The Income Tax (I-T) department has got substantial information from the UK and Mauritius on overseas accounts of "non-residents" who invested in the cash-rich IPL after months of communication with the two countries.
The department, as part of its probe into financial dealings in the T20 tournament, has also sent official requests to Switzerland and Ireland to share financial data.
The requests were sent after I-T investigations found links to investment of money in the UK and Mauritius by a few IPL franchises and also by suspended IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi, sources familiar with the development said.
The information received from the UK and Mauritius, under the provisions of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), pertains to investments made in these countries and routing of funds in IPL teams, the sources said.
The data will enable I-T authorities to tax the funds in India and will be a part of the probe report being prepared by the department. It was looking forward for the information since June last year, they said.
The department will compile the data received from the two countries in "confidential" compact discs (CDs) and will dispatch them to I-T ranges concerned for investigation and subsequent attachment of proof for raising tax demands.
The I-T investigating unit in Mumbai had earlier written to the Foreign Tax Division in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) to obtain information about "foreign entities in IPL teams" after its probe into the cash-rich tournament found investments by "non-residents" especially in a few IPL teams.
In order to establish the amount of tax evasion, the department had also approached the CBDT to execute DTAA with countries such as Switzerland, Germany and Mauritius to obtain information on finances under the tax information exchange treaty.
The foreign tax division in the finance ministry looks into the tax liabilities and evasion by non-residents and foreigners in respect of both the countries under the agreements.
The department is also contemplating questioning Modi through video conferencing as suggested by the Law Ministry, the sources said.
However, it has written back to the law ministry seeking to know as to how the former IPL Commissioner could be confronted with documents by this method of questioning.
The department had collected documents related to bidding, payment of taxes and various other financial details during its countrywide survey of various IPL franchises, with the first such operation being conducted on April 15 at the BCCI and IPL premises, including the office of Modi.
