Man who declared Rs 13,860 crore under IDS vanishes amidst I-T raids

DHNS

Income Tax authorities are unable to trace Mahesh Shah, the little-known owner of a Chartered Accountant firm who declared a wealth of Rs 13,860 crore in unaccounted wealth under the Income Declaration Scheme.

Ahmedabad, 03 Dec 2016: His name came to light as I-T officials raided his residence and his 100-year-old CA firm Apaji Amin & Co LLP in Ahmedabad, as Shah failed to pay the first instalment of the money he declared under IDS.

 

“He is 67 years and has a stent installed. I advised him that IDS is a god-sent opportunity for him which he should benefit from and live peacefully,” Tehmul Sethna, the chartered accountant who facilitated the declaration before the IT officials, said.

 

Sethna claimed he didn’t know of Shah’s profession despite knowing the man since 2013, though he was aware that Shah had wide contacts and dealt with large parcels of land.

 

According to the information available, Mahesh Shah went to the Income Tax office on the night of September 30, 2016, the last day of IDS, and also submitted the statutory Form No 2 under IDS on October 14.

 

IDS offered immunity to those who declare their unaccounted income and pay the tax. Accordingly, Shah was to pay 45%, roughly Rs 6237 crore, of his declared money as tax.

 

He should have paid the first part of that due, Rs 1560 crore, on November 30. When he failed to pay the first instalment until November 28, IT sleuths cancelled his Form No 2 under Section 193 of the Finance Act and raided Mahesh Shah’s residence and firm.

 

“Now, we got an order from the I-T department saying that they had conducted a 360-degree search on this person and it appeared that he may not pay the tax and the (declaration) was likely a fake one. Also, the I-T officials suspect money laundering, so they cancelled the form. I don’t know how money laundering could happen as demonetisation came much later,” Sethna said.