Hyderabad: The income tax department has launched a major investigation into outward foreign remittances of nearly ₹1,000 crore after searches across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh uncovered transactions involving companies, individuals and suspected shell entities that allegedly sent large sums overseas for services now under verification.The searches, carried out at 13 locations including nine in Hyderabad, three in Visakhapatnam and one in Guntur, are part of a nationwide exercise to verify suspicious foreign remittances flagged through data analysis and field intelligence.The funds were allegedly routed to entities in jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK, China and Indonesia, with the remitters claiming the payments were made for services obtained from overseas entities.Investigators are examining whether the services cited for the remittances were rendered and whether the recipient entities had genuine business operations.A major focus of the probe is Stockpile Softech Solutions Private Limited, a Visakhapatnam-based company incorporated in 2021 and registered at Marikavalasa Junction. Income tax officials are scrutinising foreign remittances of around ₹900 crore linked to the company. Searches were also conducted in connection with its directors, Deepak Nambaru and Madhava Ram Ponapalli.The department is examining companies, proprietorship concerns, individuals and suspected shell firms that claimed to have availed services from overseas entities and remitted funds outside India. Officials are also verifying both the overseas recipients and the nature of services cited as the basis for the payments.In Guntur, searches were conducted in connection with Chinna Venkata Subramanyam Dama of Arundelpet. During the operation, investigators found 15 certificates linked to transactions worth ₹130 crore that have come under suspicion. The verification exercise also led officials to several entities that were found to be non-existent, according to available inputs.Searches also covered a chartered accountant and a company secretary in Hyderabad, with officials scrutinising the role of professionals involved in certifying foreign remittances.The operation forms part of a nationwide verification exercise launched on Aug 18, following an analysis of foreign remittance data that revealed substantial overseas transfers by entities with little or no corresponding business activity.The department said the exercise stemmed from an earlier investigation into a network of fictitious charitable trusts allegedly used for accommodation entries through bogus donations and contributions. Subsequent verification showed that several entities making large foreign remittances were either non-filers of income tax returns or had reported very small turnovers.According to officials, the turnovers declared by some entities did not appear to match either the scale of the overseas transfers or the purposes cited for the payments, including freight services, software imports and consulting services. In several cases, entities were also not found operating from their declared addresses.Data analytics further revealed that a relatively small group of professionals had issued a large number of Form 15CB certificates, while the remitted funds were concentrated among a clustered set of overseas entities.Under the Income Tax Rules, professionals certifying foreign remittances are required to examine the taxability of transactions based on books of account and supporting documents before issuing such certificates.The nationwide exercise currently covers 394 entities, including 117 located in land border states, as well as 36 professionals. The department has emphasised that professionals issuing Form 15CB/Form 146 certificates are expected to exercise due diligence, professional judgment and adequate scrutiny while certifying foreign remittance transactions.GFXForm 15CB, read with Rule 37BB of the Income Tax Rules, 1962 — corresponding to Form 146 under Rule 220 of the Income Tax Rules, 2026 — requires the accountant certifying a foreign remittance to examine its taxability with reference to the books of account and other relevant documents.
