IT raids land owners in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Goa; seizes Rs 1,300 crore

The Income Tax (IT) department discovered unaccounted income worth more than Rs 1,300 crore after it searched 50 locations belonging to people who had signed Joint Development Agreements (JDA) with real estate developers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Goa, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement.

Additionally, undisclosed cash and gold jewellery worth more than Rs 24 crore has also been seized by the CBDT.

The CBDT said they have seized evidence linked to sale agreements, development agreements, and occupancy certificates (OC).

"The evidence reveals that the land owners had not disclosed capital gains income accrued on the transfer of land for development through JDAs with developers, even after the issue of OCs by the authorities," the CBDT added.

Accrued income is revenue that has been earned, but is yet to be received.

Additionally, it was discovered that the land owners had been hiding the consideration paid for the transfer land, and fraudulently inflating the cost of acquisition and other charges, to reduce their income from capital gains.

The investigation found that some of the land owners had not filed their income tax returns (ITRs) for several years, even though capital gains income had accrued to them.

"When confronted, the assesses admitted to their lapses and agreed to disclose income from capital gains detected in their respective cases, and pay due taxes thereon," the CBDT added.

CBDT officials withheld information regarding the developers and the cities. Further investigation is ongoing.