Kochi: In a major breakthrough against tax evasion, the Income Tax Department has claimed to have unearthed massive tax irregularities worth Rs 25 crore during raids on the premises of several YouTubers across Kerala, sources said on Friday. It is learnt that the raids were conducted by the IT sleuths at the residences and offices of 13 popular Malayali Youtubers on Thursday.
Sources said that the YouTubers have millions of subscribers of their YouTube channels and owe more than Rs 2 crore each in Income Tax to the IT department. The raids were conducted at the houses of YouTubers with an annual income of Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore. Among the YouTubers whose premises were raided by the IT sleuths are actress and presenter Pearly Maani, Sebin and Saju Muhammed.
The raids by the Income Tax Department came following inputs that the YouTubers were not paying their due income tax as per the law. Over the further course of action, an IT official said that the accused YouTubers will be issued a notice to pay their IT returns. Earlier, the Income Tax Department had conducted raids at the houses of famous film stars in Kerala.
Then, the officials also recorded the statement of actor Mohanlal in the case. The Income Tax officials also raided the houses and offices of Malayalam film producers such as Anthony Perumbavoor, Anto Joseph, Listin Stephen and actor and producer Prithviraj. In 2011 also the Income Tax Department investigated the financial transactions of Mohanlal and Mammootty.
