Over two dozen premises are being raided in searches that began Tuesday (Representational)
In a major crackdown on Chinese mobile companies, the Income Tax department is conducting searches on leading Chinese mobile companies across the country.
Mobile companies Oppo, Xiaomi, and One Plus are being covered in the searches, sources told news agency ANI.
Over two dozen premises are being raided in searches that began Tuesday.
"Raids are ongoing in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Greater Noida, Kolkata, Guwahati, Indore and some other places," the sources said.
Some fintech companies are also covered in this search, they added.
Chief Executive Officers of these companies are covered in this search and currently, they are being interrogated by the Income Tax officials.
The search was conducted based on the intelligence inputs of huge tax evasion by these Chinese mobile firms, the sources said. The firms were under the radar for a long time and when the I-T department got concrete intelligence of tax evasion, these companies were raided.
According to sources, a substantial amount of digital data evidence that points at tax evasion has been found and seized.
Earlier in August, Chinese government-controlled telecom vendor ZTE was searched. Searches were conducted at five premises of ZTE, including their corporate office, the residence of the foreign director, the residence of the company secretary, the account person and the cash handler of the company.
During the search on ZTE, the examination of import bills vis-a-vis sale bills shows that there was a gross profit of approximately 30% on the trading of equipment, though the company had been booking "huge" losses over the years.
The investigation further revealed that the losses are being booked by the company through bogus expenses in respect of services provided by it. A few such recipients have been identified against whom substantial expenses have been booked over the years. These entities were found to be non-existent at their addresses, the sources added.