The income tax division searches five builders and discovers “Rs 400 crore tax evasion.”

GURUGRAM: Five real estate developers, some of whom run hotel chains and schools in the city, are accused of evading taxes by $400 million, according to 200 I.T. officers who have been conducting raids at 28 locations over the past five days.

The raids started at 5 a.m. on September 14 and are still going on, according to sources in the income-tax division on Tuesday.

The source stated that in addition to documentation used to track down unpaid taxes, the tax authorities also seized jewelry and cash totaling Rs. 4 crores.

The raids started at 5 a.m. on September 14 and are still going on, according to sources in the income-tax division on Tuesday. The source stated that in addition to documentation used to track down unpaid taxes, the tax authorities also seized jewelry and cash totaling Rs. 4 crores.

“We anticipated between Rs 100 and Rs 150 crore in tax evasion. This entails much more. The department has seized related documents, a top I-T officer told TOI.

According to allegations, the developers under investigation marked significant transactions on informal receipts rather than bills, which aren’t noted in accounting systems.

An IT insider claimed that one developer who owns a network of schools had faked parent signatures on transactions to pass them off as charitable contributions and escape taxes.

When the I-T department discovered that the overall taxes being collected from real estate companies were less than they ought to be, particularly in Gurgaon, where construction is a significant industry, they began to look into the sector.

Gurgaon ranked ninth among Indian cities in terms of income tax contributions, according to a TOI study from earlier this month. One-fourth of the Rs 40,000 crore in taxes paid by the city’s 4.5 lakh taxpayers in 2022–23 came from the IT sector.

Data from the I-T department showed that despite being a major industry in the NCR, real estate and construction only accounted for 8% of taxes in the previous fiscal year.

According to officials, the department will scan all documents collected after the raid to wrap up its investigation and, if guilty, will levy fines for tax evasion. Police and 150 members of the CRPF are providing security for I.T. teams to make sure the raids are not halted.