Amaravati: Authorities in Andhra Pradesh's Chittoor district have claimed to have unearthed a scam worth crores of rupees involving embezzlement of the Income Tax money based on a similar scam in Kozhikode Kerala. It has been learned that the fraudsters made bogus claims on the refund of the Income Tax usually deposited by IT payers in excess and then reclaimed through a special window later.
Officials at the joint Chittoor District Tambellapalle sub-treasury office, the income tax collected in the financial year 2020-21 was only Rs 2.10 crores. However, the the amount reclaimed by the people added up to a whopping Rs 25.83 crores raising an alarm. The Treasury officials are also investigating the IT returns in the previous seven years.
Similar irregularities are also suspected in the sub-treasury offices of Kakinada, Rajamahendravaram, Kothapet, and Palakollu in the joint two Godavari districts, Tamballapalle, Madanapalle, Punganur, Peeleru, and Valmikipuram in the joint Chittoor district. Officials said that the actual amount embezzled will be known after a thorough assessment.
Remarkably, the irregularities came to light while looking at the countrywide data based on a scandal that happened in Kozhikode, Kerala some time ago. Back in Tamballapalle, it is learned that the fraudsters have made bogus refund claims and the funds were disbursed in large amounts by misusing the Accounts Office Identification Number (AIN).
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The Kozhikode Joint Commissioner of Income Tax has examined many AINs across the country. A report in this reagrd was made public on December 21, 2021, after examining the suspected AINs. Suspicion was raised on the transactions of IT returns with the AIN of Tamballapalle. It was mentioned in the report that there was a huge difference between the total returns registered here for seven years and the total returns in 2020-21.
Based on that report, the scam of bogus claims came to light in AP. All officers in the Pay and Accounts, District Treasury, and Sub-Treasury departments have unique AIN through which the amount of TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) is deducted every month and entered in the 24-G statement form and submitted to the IT department.
The same AIN is also used for filing returns. But the treasury officials say that they are submitting returns with private auditors and giving them their AIN, which is said to be the reason behind the alleged scam. Although the STOs claim that these irregularities are due to private auditors, it seems that they cannot avoid them.
It is alleged that bogus TAN numbers and PAN numbers were used to claim the tax money. It is alleged that a senior accountant in Tamballapalle has colluded with a private auditor and committed the irregularities. It is said that he has given an assurance that he will return Rs 5 crore admitting that he is the agent for diverting the money illegally. A probe into the alleged scam is going on.
