I-T department publishes list of 18 defaulters

As part of the ongoing strategy of ‘naming and shaming’ defaulters, the income tax department on Wednesday published the third list of 18 tax evaders, including gold and diamond traders, who owe Rs 1,152 crore (Rs 11.52 billion) tax to the government.

The tax dues pertain to the past many assessment years on account of the defaulters either going untraceable or having inadequate assets to pay.

The largest defaulter in the list is Mumbai-based Uday M Acharya (late) and his legal heirs Amul Acharya and Bhavana Acharya, owing a substantive Rs 779.04 crore (Rs 7.79 billion) to the government.

The period of assessment of these defaulters range from 1989-90 to 2013-14.

Earlier in August, the income tax department had published the names of 31 tax defaulters who owed taxes of nearly Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion).

Prior to that, government had gone public with 18 tax defaulters owing Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) to the I-T department.

A number of defaulters whose names were put in the public domain on Wednesday have their last source of income shown from the trade of jewellery, diamonds and gold.

The I-T department, in the notice, has asked these defaulters to pay their tax arrears immediately and also asked public to inform the department if they have any knowledge of these people.

Others figuring in the latest list include Ahmedabad-based Jag Heet Exporters Pvt Ltd (Rs 18.45 crore or Rs 184.5 million), Jashubhai Jewellers (Rs 32.13 crore or Rs 321.3 million), Kalyan Jewels Pvt Ltd (Rs 16.77 crore or Rs 167.7 million), Liverpool Retail India Limited (Rs 32.16 crore or Rs 321.6 million), Dharnendra Overseas Ltd (Rs 19.87 crore or Rs 198.7 million) and Praful M Akhani (Rs 29.11 crore or Rs 291.1 million).

Hyderabad-based Nexxoft Infotel Ltd owes Rs 68.21 crore (Rs 682.1 million) in default, while Bhopal-based Great Metals Products Pvt Ltd has to pay Rs 13.01 crore (Rs 130.1 million) in arrears and unpaid taxes, the notice said.

The department has also published the regional I-T authority of each defaulter, whom the public can approach if they have information on the defaulter.

“The entries in the list are specific to the tax arrears/assessment year mentioned. The tax defaulter’s address, business, shareholding and management may have changed,” the notice noted.

Other defaulters featuring on the list include Surat-based Sakshi Exports (Rs 26.76 crore or Rs 267.6 million), Bimla Gupta of Karol Bagh in Delhi (Rs 13.96 crore or Rs 139.6 million), Bhopal-based Garima Machinery Pvt Ltd (Rs 6.98 crore or Rs 69.8 million), Mumbai-based Dhiren Anantrai Modi (Rs 10.33 crore or Rs 103.3 million), Hemang C Shah (Rs 22.51 crore or Rs 225.1 million), Mohd Haji, alias Yusuf Motorwala (Rs 22.34 crore or Rs 223.4 million) and Chandigarh-located Venus Remedies Pvt Ltd (Rs 15.25 crore or Rs 152.5 million).

Illustration by Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com