I-T raids on Karnataka realty sector reveal Rs 1,300 crore black money

The Income Tax Department said it detected unaccounted-for money of over Rs 1,300 crore during raids on 50 places linked to real estate businesses in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Goa.

Rs 24 crore worth of undisclosed assets in the form of cash and gold jewellery have also been seized.

On October 20 and November 2, the department searched certain individuals who had executed joint development agreements (JDAs) with various real-estate developers. The searches yielded a large amount of incriminating evidence in the form of documents and digital data regarding sale agreements, development agreements and occupancy certificates (OCs), according to the department.

The department said that verification of the evidence showed that landowners had not disclosed the income accrued to them from capital gains on the transfer of land for development through JDAs to various developers even after OCs were issued by the authorities.

In many instances, landowners suppressed income from capital gains for various years by artificially inflating the cost of acquisition and various other costs and by not disclosing the full value of consideration on the transfer of land, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) stated in a press release.

Some of the landowners did not even file their income tax returns for various years where capital gains income had accrued to them. When confronted, the assesses concerned admitted to the lapses and agreed to disclose the income from capital gains detected in their respective cases. They also agreed to pay due taxes thereon, the CBDT stated.