I-T Department: Sonu Sood evaded over Rs 20 crore as taxes

The Income Tax Department on Saturday said that actor Sonu Sood and his colleagues had avoided tax in the amount of Rs. 20 crore. According to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), damning material connected to tax evasion was discovered during a survey of the actor's and his aides' homes. The I-T authorities searched and seized numerous of the actor's properties in Mumbai and a Lucknow-based group of companies involved in infrastructure development. The CBDT claimed it searched 28 locations in Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jaipur, Delhi, and Gurugram.

According to the tax department, Sood's non-profit received Rs 2.1 crores from overseas contributors using a crowdfunding website, in breach of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, which controls such transactions. It has also been shown that these fictitious loans were utilised to make investments and purchase real estate. According to the report, the total amount of tax evasion discovered so far is more than Rs 20 crore.

Last year, Sonu Sood's humanitarian actions during the epidemic earned him a large fan base. The 48-year-old actor was praised for his humanitarian efforts, including assisting refugees and people in medical distress. In April and May of last year, he organised special flights home for migrants stuck by the lockdown. He was one of the most active celebrities managing oxygen for Covid sufferers at the peak of the second wave.