NEW DELHI: In a stern message to those making false income tax claims, authorities have carried out a rare search action on an IT professional and his wife, estimating alleged bogus claims and tax evasion of Rs 5.3 crore over five years, according to the department. The couple also face charges of forging documents.Tax officials found that deduction claims involved fake political donations, interest on home and education loans, while rental income was not disclosed. They had purchased half-a-dozen properties using some of these funds.It all started with the wife’s tax return claiming a deduction of over Rs 40 lakh for a donation to a political party. While her Form 16 showed deductions of around Rs 1.2 lakh, the return claimed an additional deduction. When the claim was verified with the party, officials found that the taxpayer had actually donated Rs 50, for which a receipt had been issued. Investigators found that the receipt had been digitally modified and several fabricated receipts generated to support the claim of a donation exceeding Rs 40 lakh.But the couple, who live in Delhi-NCR, did not give in easily. When summoned during the investigation, the husband, who filed the returns, not only presented the “modified” receipts but also submitted bank statements to support the claim. Officials sought to verify the statements with the bank, as the transactions did not tally.Loan payments, credit card payments and bank transfers, including transfers to their own account, had been forged to show them as political donations.The couple had claimed nearly Rs 3 crore in education loan interest for studies at Yale University. An interest certificate was submitted. During probe, officials discovered that no family member of the couple under scrutiny had ever studied at Yale and that the certificate had been prepared using ChatGPT.The couple also made a bogus housing loan claim, with both spouses describing themselves as the sole owner of the same property, although they have now admitted that it was jointly owned. Contrary to their claims, the property was always rented out and was not self-occupied.
In their returns, one spouse had claimed nil rental income and interest payment of Rs 2 lakh, while the other had claimed up to Rs 5 lakh as interest income. Since tax returns now require individuals to disclose loan account number and the bank, the name of the bank was changed in one case and the loan amount increased to Rs 6 crore, with interest claimed at Rs 8 lakh. The probe revealed that the loan had been repaid in 2015, while the claims under scrutiny related to the period beginning FY2021-22. The property was earning rent of Rs 10-16 lakh during this period.Dealing with the couple has not been easy. When their case was first picked up, the husband shifted the deduction claim for political donations under Section 80GGC to donations to charities under Section 80G, without surrendering the claim.The couple now face penalties and other legal action.