The Income Tax Department has unearthed undisclosed income of over Rs 200 crore after it recently searched as many as 40 premises of some film producers, distributors and financiers in Tamil Nadu.
The searches were launched on August 2 and about 40 premises of the entities, which have not been identified, were covered in Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Vellore, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said on Saturday.
The board is the administrative authority for the IT Department which functions under it.
The department also said it seized Rs 26 crore undisclosed cash and gold jewellery worth over Rs 3 crore during the searches. So far, the search operation has resulted in the detection of undisclosed income of more than Rs 200 crore, the CBDT said in a statement.
The department seized a number of documents, digital devices relating to “unaccounted” cash transactions and investments even as “secret and hidden” premises have been unearthed, it said.
In the case of film production houses, tax evasion has been found as the actual amounts realised from the release of the films are much more than the amounts shown in the regular books of account, it further said. “The unaccounted income so generated by them is deployed for undisclosed investments as well as for various undisclosed payments,” the CBDT said.
In the case of film distributors, the statement said, seized documents indicate the collection of “unaccounted cash” from theatres.
“As per the evidence, the distributors have formed syndicates and have systematically suppressed the theatre collections, resulting in the suppression of actual income,” it alleged.