UP \'kachori\' seller earns 60-70 lakhs annually; I-T dept on alert after tip off
Aligarh: An outlet selling ‘kachoris’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh has come under the scanner of the Income Tax department (Aligarh range).
This came into the light of commercial tax department during a search conducted by the officials of special investigating branch (SIB).
In the investigation it was found that Mukesh was a ‘crorepati’ but did not have GST (goods and services tax) registration. The SIB conducted the search following a complaint received from Lucknow.
Commercial Tax Officer Aligarh AK Maheshwari said, "The shop was raided as it has been found that on the basis of their annual turnover, they neither pay tax nor they have registered their business under GST Act. On investigation it has been found that their income is more than 60 lakh."
The owner of outlet, Mukesh Kumar, allegedly has an annual turnover of around Rs 60-70 lakhs but does not pay any tax. According to officials, the annual turnover of Mukesh might go beyond Rs 1 crore.
Mukesh, the shopkeeper said, "My shop was raided on June 20. My daily sale is around Rs 2000-3000. Modi ji had said that GST registration is required in turnover of more than Rs 40 lakh, my income is not even half of it. These people are threatening me now."
The ordinary-looking small outlet located near Seema Talkies named -- Mukesh Kachori Bhandar -- in Aligarh sees brisk sale throughtout the day. Mukesh has been running the shop for the last 10-12 years and earned a name in due course of time.
Kauntiye said, “We had to search for the outlet. We initially conducted a recce by watching the turnout of customers at different timings. After making an assessment, we got a search warrant on June 21. During the survey, the seller himself gave out the details which indicated that his turnover was in lakhs of rupees.”
Deputy commissioner, commercial tax, Ravindra Pal Singh Kauntiye, along with joint commissioner HPR Dixit, assessed the volume of raw material, number of customers, fuel used to make an estimate of Mukesh’s income.
“Till March 31, businessmen having a turnover above Rs 20 lakh were required to have registration for the goods and services tax (GST) but from April 1, the limit has gone up to Rs 40 lakh. This ‘kachori’ seller, despite having a high turnover, had no GST registration,” Deputy commissioner said.
“We have issued notice to Mukesh who has expressed readiness to have GST registration,” Kauntiye said.
According to officials, there are about 600 kachori sellers in Aligarh. Officials of the department do not rule out massive tax evasion by such roadside stalls selling snacks.
However, this could be a tip of an iceberg as Mukesh is not even among the big ‘kachori’ sellers of Aligarh and there are bigger names who might have been evading tax.
