PALAKKAD: The Income-Tax Department is likely to extend to Palakkad and Coimbatore the investigation into the alleged tax evasion by Ernakulam-based Shingaram Lottery Agency.
“Currently, we have only raided the Ernakulam office of the Shingaram Lottery Agency. There are over 120 such agencies of the Sikkim and Bhutan lotteries in the state. The present infrastructure of the Department does not permit us to raid all the agencies in the state .As of now, we have confined our raids just to Ernakulam," said sources in the Income-Tax Department.
The owner of the Shingaram Lottery Agency, Muthuswamy Chettiyar, in his statement to the Income-Tax officials said that the gold coins recovered from his residence were gifted to him by the Megha Distributors, for selling tickets in bulk.
Muthuswamy said he had been collecting tickets from Megha Distributors in Palakkad, which was reportedly owned by a relative of Santiago Martin. There is also a written agreement between the Shingaram Lottery Agency and the Megha Distributors.
In the raids conducted by the Income-Tax sleuths on the office-cum-godown of the Shingaram Agencies and the residence of its owner on Thursday, INR 1 crore in cash, 3.5 kg of gold and 1.5 kg silver, were seized. The raids were conducted in the light of the fact that the Shingaram agency had been evading tax for nearly eight years.
Turnover amounting to crores
Sources said the turnover of the Sikkim-Bhutan lotteries, with over 120 agencies in the state, amounted to Rs 15,000 crore annually.
The turnover of the Shingaram Lottery Agency alone was in the region of Rs 172 crore annually. The agencies purchase lotteries at Rs 8.80 per ticket (on a face value of Rs 10 per ticket) from the Megha distributors and sell it to the retailers at Rs 8.90 per ticket. It is the large turnover which brings in the huge profit to these agencies.
The larger question which need to be addressed here is whether the official agency of the Sikkim and Bhutan Governments are printing these tickets with the approval of the Governments.