I-T targets Delhi real estate market

NEW DELHI, December 29: Letters sent by the income tax department to owners of expensive flats and farm houses has led to panic in the real ...

NEW DELHI, December 29: Letters sent by the income tax department to owners of expensive flats and farm houses has led to panic in the real estate market in Delhi. Brokers believe that big transactions could come to a standstill and with business already down that is bad news.

The income tax department has sent letters to about 2,000 farmhouse owners, mainly in and around the Brijwasan, Chhattarpur and Mehrauli areas on the Capital’s southern fringes, while many others have been identified.

Similar letters have gone to over 4,000 high income group (HIG) flat-owners in areas including Vasant Vihar, Panchsheel Park, Greater Kailash and Anant Ram Dairy in south Delhi and Pappan Kalan in the north-west.

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The Anant Ram Dairy spread over 34.57 acres prime land near R K Puram is one of the most controversial projects in Delhi.

The list of plot-owners in this posh but unauthorised colony includes the names of several top politicians and bureaucrats and their relatives, who have built opulent mansions there.

The income tax authorities have initially targeted only those who purchased or sold these properties, particularly the builders’ flats in posh colonies. The price for each flat at the time varied from Rs 30 to Rs 40 lakh. The price for the farmhouses, similarly, fall in the over Rs one crore-bracket where, the authorities feel, the chances of tax evasion are the maximum.

“But the time of purchase is not really very important in our exercise. Our surveyors took note of all properties which seemed to have required a considerable investment to develop,” says O P Srivastava, Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (Delhi circle).

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He added that letters to 1,500 farm house owners were served only on Saturday and they have been asked to reply within 10 days.

Authorities have asked the owners of properties, among other things, about the source of money that was used to buy their property and whether they have been assessed for their tax liabilities. Even those who have recently sold their properties have been asked to explain whether it was liable for capital gains or gift tax.