Delhi tax department raids eatery for tax evasion, slaps Rs 5 lakh fine

New Delhi: Delhi government's Trade and Taxes department raided and slapped a fine of Rs 5 lakh on the owner of a popular eatery in Connaught Place for allegedly evading tax by not revealing his actual daily sales.

The officials of Trade and Taxes department yesterday raided the eatry, which well-known for its milkshakes, after two-day recce of the premises using spy camera and magic eye in order to adduce actual sales of the dealer.

"Keventers has been found violating tax norms," an official statement said on Thursday. A survey was first conducted based on specific intelligence inputs which pointed out at a possibility of tax evasion.

"The trade and taxes department for the first time used innovative methods of surveillance and used spy camera and magic eye to adduce actual sales on suspicious dealer of popular eatery, to check tax evasion," a senior Delhi

government official said.

Based on credential information that a dealer was suppressing his sales; a recce of the premises was done for two days in which, videography was also done for entire business day of Keventers, he said.

"Subsequently, a team of the department was sent for a detailed survey yesterday at around 2 PM in which cash of Rs 10,62,700 was found in cash counter of the shop.

"As per the returns filed, the dealer was showing sales of around Rs 25,000 per day whereas during 5-6 hours of survey, dealer made a sale of Rs 60,500," official said, adding the cash amount found was 40 times of the daily sales reported.

The dealer was confronted with evidence gathered there on which the dealer agreed to deposit tax of Rs five lakh forthwith and the same was deposited on Thursday. "It has been gathered that the dealer was declaring 1/5th of his actual sales and GTO. He was under declaring six times of taxable income.

"Default assessment of the dealer will be done for the last six years and it is expected that tax amounting to Rs 1.25 crore would be realised," the statement said.

The Department would continue surveillance and crackdown on tax evaders by using such innovative investigative methods all over Delhi, it added.