27 software firms raided

Central Excise officials have reportedly carried out extensive searches at the premises of 27 software companies for possible tax evasion, during the past one week.

The investigations were conducted at offices and warehouses at 107 locations across India for possible tax evasion.

The searches were undertaken by the sleuths of the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCI). A senior intelligence official confirmed this to CIOL. "It's not proper to disclose information, since investigation is on," said the official who did not wish to be named.

The companies that were raided by excise officials included anti-virus software firms, such as Bitdefender, K7, eScan and e-Guard, said a industry source. The objective for these searches was to investigate them for alleged entry service tax evasion.

Foreign companies, as per excise regulation, are required to pay 10.3 per cent service tax.