Nagpur: Nearly Rs 2,000 crore has been found to be remitted to various countries by shell companies in Maharashtra, triggering the taxman’s suspicion. Most of these firms remained untraceable at their given addresses and no tax returns were filed, as per a probe headed by income tax department’s directorate of investigation at Nagpur. Sources said, the funds may have been routed out of the country to be stashed abroad.Action started after a Latur-based chartered accountant’s firm came under the scanner. Any remittance abroad needs a certificate by a chartered accountant. While dwelling on taxability, the document also mentioned the purposes for which the funds are being sent to a foreign entity, said a source.In this case, the chartered accountant certified 15 to 20 such cases over three years, leading to massive funds remittance abroad. And the certification was done without scrutiny. The reasons cited for sending out funds were vague, with only a terse description. There have been instances when Rs 200 crore were sent and the reason cited was installation of software, with no details beyond it.Promoters of these companies will now be under the IT scanner. The firms that remitted funds had neither proper addresses nor traceable directors. Moreover, no business activity matching the generation of funds was found, a source said.It has been learnt the chartered accountant’s firm took orders on phone and issued the certificate without verifying details. The chartered accountant recently appeared before tax sleuths.The directorate of investigation at Nagpur covers Vidarbha, Marathwada and north Maharashtra regions. An officer of Indian Revenue Service (IRS) cadre, Vilas Shinde, has taken charge here.The chartered accountants’ certificates throw light on multiple aspects, including details on whether it’s a personal remittance, loan or a transfer arising out of a transaction. An earning of a foreign entity in India can be subject to taxation too.
