CBI books 31 in Kerala for illegal IT refunds

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said on Wednesday that it has booked 31 people in Kerala for claiming Income Tax deductions worth over Rs 44 lakh by making false claims.

The accused included 18 Navy personnel.

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All of them had claimed various deductions not included in the mandatory Form-16.

Those booked included Navy and police personnel and executives of two private companies. They used the services of agents to make the fake claims, officials said.

Agents induce cheating

The CBI alleged that the agents charged 10 per cent of the refund as fee.

The action followed a complaint from the Principal Chief Income Tax Commissioner of Kerala who alleged that a total of 51 people had made the false claims.

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Of these 51, 20 assessees who had falsely claimed and received refund of income tax repaid the refunded amounts totalling Rs 24.62 lakh to the Income Tax Department after a notice was issued to them.

Some refund money

They admitted that they had committed mistakes in claiming the income tax refund.

The CBI said the remaining 31 people booked in a FIR have yet not returned the falsely claimed refund totalling Rs 44.07 lakh to the Income Tax Department.

(With input from Agencies)