Sonu Sood evaded Rs 20 crore in taxes,violated FCRA-ITD

The income tax department said that actor Sonu Sood has evaded taxes of over Rs 20 crore. In a statement ,the IT department said on Saturday that  Sood's non-profit also raised Rs 2.1 crore from overseas donors using a crowdfunding platform in violation of the law - Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act - that governs such transactions. The department had conducted a search and seizure operation at various premises of Sood in Mumbai as well as a Lucknow-based group real estate group. Total 28 premises in Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jaipur, Delhi and Gurugram were searched over two days. Incriminating evidence pertaining to tax evasion have been found.

It said the modus operandi followed by Sonu Sood was to route his unaccounted income in the form of bogus unsecured loans from many fake entities. “Investigations so far have revealed use of 20 such entries, the providers of which, on examination, have accepted on oath to have given bogus accommodation entries. They have accepted to have issued cheques in lieu of cash. There have been instances where professional receipts have been camouflaged as loans in the books of accounts for the purpose of evasion of tax. It has also been revealed that these bogus loans have been used for making investments and acquiring properties,” the CBDT said. It added that the total amount of tax evaded unearthed so far, amounts to more than Rs20 crore. 

According to the allegations against the actor, whose philanthropic efforts for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic have earned huge praise, his non-profit Sood Charity Foundation set up in July last year during the Covid first wave collected donations of over Rs 18 crore till April this year, out of which Rs 1.9 crore has been spent on relief work and the balance Rs 17 crore has been lying unused in the non-profit's bank account. The I-T department had also conducted raids at various premises of the real estate firm, with whom Sood has entered into a joint venture real estate project and invested substantial funds. The raids, the CBDT statement said, have resulted in the unearthing of incriminating evidence pertaining to tax evasion and irregularities in the books of account.