KOCHI: The Income Tax department checks at the offices of major Malayalam film production houses continued, with three more offices here inspected over Tuesday and Wednesday.
Last week, IT officials had checked the city offices of Antony Perumbavoor of Aashirward Cinemas, Anto Joseph of AJ Film Company and Listin Stephen of Magic Frames.
IT officials said that the checks were conducted at film production companies owned by film stars. A source said that the inspections were held at the offices of production companies in Panampilly Nagar, Thammanam and Kadavanthara on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"The checking is to verify the tax details filed by these companies. It is to ensure that no tax evasion has taken place. We will continue the checks at other production houses in Kochi and across the state," an official said.
The officials said that often NRIs invest money in the film industry. Similarly, as many movies are switching to the OTT platform, it has to be checked whether tax evasion has taken place in such cases, adding, similar checks are being conducted in other states.