Income Tax Raid: Income Tax department has busted an illegal racket of running Benami petrol pumps in the north eastern state of Meghalaya. In a quick action, the investigation wing of Income Tax department for north-eastern region raided some businessmen running an illegal racket of Benami petrol pump in the state. This cartel was also controlling other Benami properties.
“These persons were depriving the State Government of legitimate revenue by suppressing sales and non-deposit of local taxes collected, while also indulging in massive evasion of income tax by misusing exemption under Section 10(26) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 meant for tribal persons,” said the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
The crackdown began during the early hours of Thursday and continued till Friday. The tax officials recovered Rs 2 crore in unaccounted cash and seized some documents. The unaccounted cash was stashed in unlikely places like water tanks, said the tax officials.
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“This search by the Department was a much needed action on a long existing racket run by some unscrupulous elements exploiting local citizens of Meghalaya and avoiding paying income tax using tribal persons who are exempted from income tax, as a front,” Income Tax department said in a statement.
The tax officials were keeping this group of businessmen under surveillance for last one year.
Stunned by presence of such a large scale Benami racket in the area, the executive committee member of Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) in-charge of trade, told the media on the 8th of August, 2019 that urgent steps will be taken to prevent Benami transactions in the State.
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He noted that despite the law, benami transactions are thriving due to collusion between some local people and their non-tribal business partners. KHADC is a statutory autonomous body which regulates various aspects of trade and commerce in Meghalaya.
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