Govt orders shuttering of 1 lakh dodgy companies in last 48 hours; PM signals crackdown on tax evaders

The government has deregistered and shuttered more than 1 lakh companies with doctored accounts in the last 48 hours, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday, in a stern message that the government will come down heavily on tax dodgers who refuse to come clean despite repeated warnings.

“Just 48 hours back, more than 1 Lakh companies have been shut with the single stroke of a pen,” Modi told a gathering of chartered accountants, less than 24 hours after he signalled the switchover to a goods and services tax (GST) in a glittering midnight event in Parliament’s Central Hall.

More than three lakh companies have been identified so far, based on data mined after demonetisation, whose books haves been found to be suspicious and irregular books of accounts.

In addition, more than 37,000 shell or paper companies have been identified found to be funneling black money through obscure routes such as hawala.

“Nobody will have the courage to evade taxes,” Modi said that the foundation day function of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) attended by hundreds of students, professional CAs, traders, union and state ministers in a packed Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium

“Those who have looted the poor, will have to return money to the poor,” he said. “Strict action will be taken against law-breaking companies in the coming days”.

The government has been collating data on bank deposits and other transactions after November 8, 2017, when Modi announced demonetisation that outlawed Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes as part of a broader strategy to clamp down on corruption and black money.

“Data mining is going on in banks of about how funds have moved after November 8,” the Prime Minister said.

Modi directly attacked some chartered accountants for helping clients in evading taxes and under-report incomes.

“After demonetisation, there must be somebody who have helped these companies. These thieves, these companies, must have gone to some financial doctor. Isn’t it your responsibility to identity and separate these people,” the Prime Minister said.

“The Parliament has handed down a pious responsibility to the CA community. To tell what is the truth and false through audit,” he said.

The government has been collating data on concealed assets of people who are suspected to have under-reported their incomes. The income tax department has also been collating data on property deals, a source of rampant black money transactions.

“There are big houses that number in crores in India. Last year more than 2.18 crore people travelled overseas. Despite this, it is hard to believe that only 32 lakh people say their annual income is more than Rs 10 lakh,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister warned that the government would not hesitate to launch a probe against CAs found to have advised clients on how to conceal income and dodge taxes.

“Investigation against wrong suggestion givers is also necessary. In the last 11 years only 25 CAs have been probed. Is it the case that only 25 CAs have been found to be indulging in irregular practices,” he asked. “Don’t allow the trust to falter on your (CA’s) signature.”

Amid looming question marks over GST’s impact in Asia’s third largest economy buffeted by opposing pulls and pressures from a multitude of sectors, Modi urged professional chartered accountants to hand-hold traders and businessmen to usher in GST, billed as India’s biggest ever reforms initiative.

Sharp fall in money parked by Indians in Switzerland's banks last year also how the noose is tightening around those to who salt away millions in overseas havens to evade taxes.

Indians’ funds nearly halved to 676 Swiss francs (about Rs 4,500 crore) in 2016 to hit a record low,  a fall of 45 percent, marking the biggest ever yearly decline in such funds.

“Since 2014, the fall has accelerated. After two years, when real time data starts flowing from Swiss banks, people will face even more difficulties in stashing away wealth in foreign banks. Please give this message to your clients,” Modi said.

“You are the saints of the financial world. Saints show the road towards mokhsa. You have the same role for financial world for showing the right path,” he said.