12 Real Estate Developers Under Scanner For Tax Evasion In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: At least 12 real estate developers of the state are under scanner of State GST department for evasion of tax.

Based on the complaints from purchasers of flats and subsequent data analysis done by State GST Enforcement Wing, search and inspection of the business premises of some real estate developers were undertaken.

During the search, it was found that some of the real estate developers having turnover of more than Rs 100 core have shown nil turnover in their VAT returns. They collected VAT of 2% on gross value of the apartments but did not deposit the same in government account.

Some developers collected VAT on the strength of money receipt and not through invoice with an intention to evade payment of tax. It was also detected that some developers filed return showing all taxable turnovers as tax exempted turnover with a motive to not pay tax to the government. One of them showed the intra-state transaction as inter-state transaction.

The department collected the data from Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA). Investigations into the financial transaction of 12 developers have been completed and adjudication for 8 developers including Z Estate Pvt Ltd, DN Homes Pvt Ltd, SJ Developers & Housing Pvt Ltd, Vipul Ltd, Ashiana Homes Pvt Ltd, Utkal Builder Ltd, Utkal Realtors Pvt Ltd and BN Developers Pvt Ltd have been completed with huge discrepancies.

In view of the large scale tax evasion, Commissioner of CT & GST has directed to make scrutiny of returns of real estate developers who have taken up residential and commercial projects in order to ascertain the turnover disclosed and payment of tax by them, according to a release of the department.