Coimbatore financial advisor gets Rs 24.8crore fine and two years jail for tax evasion

Coimbatore: A Coimbatore court on Wednesday sentenced a financial advisor to two years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 24.8 crore for tax evasion. B Fayaz Ahmed, an insurance and financial consultant here, was prosecuted in connection with the 2015–16 assessment year. According to the prosecution, Ahmed had declared a taxable income of about Rs 48 crore in his income tax returns but failed to pay the tax due on it.The income tax department found that he had claimed Rs 7.50 lakh as tax deducted at source through his firm, YFS Finance Limited, even though the amount had not been deposited with the central govt.Despite repeated notices and several opportunities to clear the dues, Ahmed did not comply. The department said the total outstanding amount, including interest and penalties, had risen to Rs 24.78 crore.The case was heard by chief judicial magistrate K Sivakumar. Special public prosecutor K Venkatesh, appearing for the income tax department, argued that the non-payment was a deliberate attempt to evade tax.The court found Ahmed guilty under Section 276C(2) of the Income Tax Act for wilfully attempting to evade payment of tax.