Income Tax Return Scam by Organized Racket in Pune: ₹500-Crore Scam Unearthed
IT, automobile, and multinational company employees among those under investigation
The Directorate of Income Tax (Investigations) has exposed a massive ₹500-crore income tax return scam in Pune, where tax professionals allegedly exploited loopholes in the earlier filing system to generate inflated deductions and refunds.
According to senior officials, a group of “return specialists” operated across Pune and nearby regions, luring salaried professionals—particularly employees from IT, automobile, and multinational companies, by promising unusually high returns on their filings.
Over 10,000 fraudulent returns are believed to have been filed in the last five years, with inflated claims on home loan interest and principal repayments, house rent allowance (HRA), medical expenses, insurance premiums, and education loans. Crucially, no documentary proof was submitted for these claims, making the racket both widespread and systematic.
“This was an organised racket that thrived on loopholes in the old filing system. Those loopholes have now been closed in the updated system, ensuring stricter checks,” a senior Income Tax Department officer confirmed.
The department has also indicated that not only the tax professionals but also the salaried individuals who knowingly filed false claims could face legal action.
Earlier, the Income Tax department has come across manipulation of PAN, TDS credit or bogus trusts by way of deduction claims.
Officials stressed that the scale of the fraud reflects both the sophistication of the network and the need for greater awareness among taxpayers to avoid falling prey to such schemes.
