A number of industrialists are under scanner following the recent raids by the IRB Battalion officials in Samana. Three trucks carrying iron pipes were taken under possession by the IRB officials late Wednesday night for evading tax.

Already facing a financial crunch, the state Government loses more than Rs 500 crore per annum due to tax evasion.

“We conduction raids after receiving a tip off and intercepted three trucks. Around 11 trucks were taken into possession last week,” said IRB commandant Mandeep Singh Sidhu, who headed the entire operation.

According to sources, the department has identified eight offenders, who collectively account for more than Rs 400 crore of tax evasion per annum.

“The industrialists are now planning to use their political clout to get out of the situation,” the sources said.

With the deployment of IRB Battalions to man Punjab’s sale tax and excise barriers, the nexus between the excise officials and tax evaders has started to come to light.

“Illegal trading of goods is carried on at a large scale. The smugglers pay the excise officials a fixed amount every month to evade VAT,” sources said.

“There has been a change in the tax collection since the IRB took over. We will be more strict and make sure there are no evasions across the state,” IG (IRB) Rajpal Meena said on Thursday.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal had recently accepted that

VAT collection was the largest source of income for the state Government.

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