Excise Dept freezes Delhi Gymkhana bank accounts

Excise Dept freezes Delhi Gymkhana bank accounts

By By Mail Today Bureau in New Delhi

THE bank accounts of the Delhi Gymkhana Club were frozen on Tuesday, a little over a fortnight after the Excise department had issued a notice to the club for alleged nonpayment of luxury tax worth ` 2.92 crore. “ The Delhi Gymkhana Club Ltd unregistered ( liable to be registered) has neither deposited luxury tax nor is getting registered under Delhi Taxes on Luxuries Act, 1996 in spite of assessment done by Luxury Tax officer and rejection of 1st and 2nd appeals by appellate authorities. And therefore, recovery proceeding under Section 20 and 21 of the Act has been initiated,” the seizure order issued by Dr Puja Joshi, Deputy Commissioner ( Taxes), said. The club appears to be deliberately and intentionally defaulting in payment of luxury tax. Hence, the undersigned has to initiate proceedings against the club and seize all accounts of the club, the notice said. To recover the luxury tax, the Delhi government’s officials froze the club’s bank accounts at the Punjab National Bank, the State Bank of India and the Axis Bank. The Excise department has already given directions to the managers of the PNB, Gymkhana branch and the SBI, Nirman Bhavan branch to withhold and remit ` 25 lakh and ` 15 lakh to its account. Senior officials in the Excise department stated that the Delhi Gymkhana Club had been defaulting on its payment of luxury tax for the last three years. Last month, a final notice had been issued to the club asking it to pay its dues else face action. “ Despite repeatedly asking the Delhi Gymkhana Club to register under the Delhi Tax on Luxuries Act, the administrators have not registered themselves. They are providing accommodation, rooms and deluxe suites for monetary consideration. Thus, they are liable to pay tax,” a senior excise official said.