Income Tax department on Tuesday conducted ‘survey’ operations on BBC’s Delhi and Mumbai offices for “deliberate non-compliance” with the Transfer Pricing Rules and its vast diversion of profits, said sources. However, the survey was only limited to business premises of BBC, and the news office remained untouched.
Income tax officials conducted surveys in BBC offices located at the national capital’s KG Marg and at Kalina Santacruz in Mumbai.
According to reports, a team of IT officials arrived at the BBC Studios office in Kalina Santacruz around 11.30 am and it is learnt that the tax officials were conducting verification of certain account documents in the finance department of the BBC offices.
During the investigation, the mobile phones of all the employees present in the BBC office have been taken away by the Income Tax team. The data of the computer kept in the accounts and finance department was also scanned. According to sources, officials said the devices will be returned to their owners after taking a backup.
The searches come weeks after the BBC released a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi – ‘India: The Modi Question,” which caused a controversy. On 21 January, the Centre had issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the controversial BBC documentary on PM Modi. The Supreme Court had on 3 February directed the central government to produce original records relating to its decision to block the BBC documentary.
In the case of the BBC, sources said there has been persistent non-compliance with the above mentioned rules for years. As a result of the same, several notices have been issued to the BBC. However, the BBC has been continuously defiant and non-compliant and has significantly diverted its profits, sources said.
The key focus of these surveys is to look into the manipulation of prices for unauthorised benefits, including tax advantages.
