Indian Tax Authorities Deny Crackdown on Brokerages

Lachlan Colquhoun

26 February 2007

India's central tax agency has denied it is behind a string of raids on businesses around the country, but says the raids are the work of field officers "at the local level." While confirming that it is investigating the affairs of a wide variety of businesses, a spokesperson from the Central Board of Direct Taxes told reporters that any raids were conducted at a local level. "No searches are being conducted on stockbrokers and other stock market intermediaries as erroneously reported in the media," a spokesperson from the Central Board of Direct Taxes told reporters. "The decision about any search operation against any party is taken by the field officers at the local level...and no directions are issued by the CBDT or government in this regard." The Indo Asian News Services reported last week that the income tax department had carried out "massive" raids on the premises of businesses ranging from broking houses to advertising agencies and building firms nationwide. The Ministry of Finance also confirmed there was "no truth" in rumours that the government was undertaking a national crackdown on stockbroking houses.