So how are many of those in the medical fraternity hiding income generated from consultation fees and other charges?
Most of them keep two sets of registers — one with the actual details, and the other for income tax purposes. “While a bill is given to the patient, the amount is not shown in the register kept to declare tax. This practice is rampant in Bengaluru,” a source in the Income Tax Department said, adding that the amounts entered in the official books depend on how much money the doctor or the hospital wants to hide.
The I-T sleuths could find suppression of income that took place in the past four to six months, but they said in most cases the original records are destroyed from time to time. “The suppressed income can be tracked if it is invested in fixed assets, but will be hard to track if it has been spent. However, we can extrapolate the figures and seek tax for previous transactions also,” a source said.
The 25 multi-speciality hospitals, speciality clinics, polyclinics, nursing homes, and doctors covered by the I-T sleuths in their recent operation were in Malleswaram, Marathahalli, Jayanagar, Basavanagudi, Indiranagar, Koramangala, Vasanthnagar, Vijayanagar, Yelahanka, Yeshwanthpur, and Devanahalli.
Software
Incidentally, a software is available in the market that can be used for hiding income. “Whatever can be achieved through two sets of manual registers can be achieved with this software, in which one can set the quantum of income to be suppressed,” an I-T source said. But during the recent audit, use of the software was not detected, he added.
