Tax authorities seal Top N Town's office in Bhopal

BHOPAL: The Commercial Taxes Department of Madhya Pradesh has raided the factory and retail outlets of Top N Town, the ice-cream brand of Ramanis, and sealed its properties at several places in the state on charges of tax evasion.

The raids were conducted on September 3 at the factory and head office of the Ramani Ice Creams Pvt Ltd for assessment of taxes, the department sources told PTI.

The department sealed the factory at Govindpura and the office at Kasturba Nagar on charges of tax evasion by the ice- cream maker.

Though the department has permitted the factory to operate from September 6, office of the factory is kept under seal.

As we are assessing the accounts and stocks, the office will remain sealed and there are possibilities of more recoveries, the sources said, adding that the company had shown under-sale and showed only Rs 14 crore turnover to evade taxes.

The company, the largest ice cream manufacturers in the state, recently paid Rs 20 lakh as part of commercial tax, they said.

The company has 250 franchisees and three own outlets across the state. It also supplies ice-cream to Chhattisgarh and Jhansi. Even the main outlet of Top N Town at new market (in Bhopal City) has apparently been mentioned as low sales turnover outlet, raising doubts about tax evasion.

The anti-tax evasion bureau is investigating into other areas of possible tax evasion by the company, the sources said