New Delhi, March 10: The Income Tax Department has launched a special campaign across the country to investigate Restaurants suspected of underreporting their sales. On March 8, surveys were conducted at 62 restaurants located in 46 cities across 22 states, revealing an initial estimate of ₹408 crore in concealed sales.
The department began investigating Tax Evasion patterns in the food and beverage sector in November 2025. Findings indicated that some restaurants were deleting large bills or altering them to show reduced sales figures.
Using AI-based technology, the department analyzed transaction data from approximately 1.77 lakh restaurants, comparing it with the turnover declared in their income tax returns. The investigation uncovered instances of underreported income, with some sales not reflected in accounts or tax returns at all.
Following this, the survey on March 8, 2026, identified the significant concealment of sales amounting to nearly ₹408 crore. Further investigations are ongoing.
The Income Tax Department emphasized its commitment to promoting voluntary Compliance and trust-based systems. To this end, it has initiated the ‘Saksham Naj’ campaign, which aims to guide taxpayers in rectifying their mistakes.
In the first phase of this campaign, 63,000 restaurants will receive emails and messages urging them to update their income tax returns before March 31, 2026. The department has encouraged taxpayers to file updated returns under Section 139(8A) of the Income Tax Act.
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