Excise Dept penalises another school uniform shop in Sec 22

Ramkrishan Upadhyay 

Tribune news service 

Chandigarh, August 5 

Continuing its drive against tax evasion, the UT Excise and Taxation Department has recovered Rs 5 lakh from Kingsway, another school uniform shop, in Sector 22.

Sources said the firm had deposited the amount, which included tax arrears and penalty. 

The excise team inspected the shop, checked the stock and confiscated some records for scrutiny.

During the checking, discrepancies were found in the stocks. Some bills were also found which were issued on slips to customers. 

This is in addition to the amount the department had recovered from some shops that sold school uniforms and books recently. 

The department received Rs 30 lakh from shopkeepers that sold books and uniforms of private schools after they were found guilty of evading tax during the inspection conducted a month ago. 

Shops which were asked to deposit the amount to the department include Fashioners in Sector 17, Manchanda, Sector 19, Modern Book Depot, Sector 22, Fancy Book Depot Sector 7 and Mohindra Book Depot in Sector 31. 

Sources said the inspection of the shops were carried out on the direction of Ajit Balaji Joshi, Commissioner, Excise and Taxation Department-cum-Deputy Commissioner after he received complaints regarding fleecing of parents by the shopkeepers with the connivance of schools. Meanwhile, the department has also recovered Rs 40 lakh from Darshan Cycles in Sector 20 as penalty and tax.