I-T Dept questions BRS MLC, realtors over tax evasion

Hyderabad: Officials of the income-tax (I-T) department on Wednesday questioned BRS MLC Venkatrami Reddy and officials of Pushpa Lifestyle City Projects, a day after raiding their company premises and residences over tax evasion.

I-T officials said they found illegal cash transactions in open plot purchases, material procurement and off-the-record payments from customers to avoid paying taxes.

Besides questioning Venkatrami Reddy, a former IAS officer, about his association with realtors and businessmen in the city, I-T officials also questioned his auditors over his failure to pay taxes for the past few years.

Directors Srinivas Reddy, Jayachandra Reddy and Charan Raj of Pushpa Lifestyle City Projects and their auditors were also put to the grill over alleged violations in tax return filings. The ITRs also mismatched with the purchase and sale of properties, sources said.

I-T teams raided Muppa Projects India Private Limited’s Gachibowli office, questioning directors M. Venkaiah Choudhary, M. Vishnu Vardhan and K. Rajasekhar and their auditors over ITR filings. Officials seized files, records and hard disks, and are likely to call the company officials for questioning.