They helped people get a better vision but remained hidden from the eyes of tax sleuths. Now, the commercial tax department has focused its attention on spectacles manufacturers and traders in Gujarat.

For the first time in the last 10 years, value added tax (Vat) evasion Gujarat Commercial Tax officials carried out search operations on 16 spectacle traders and two manufacturers in the state. The searches were carried out from Tuesday evening till late Wednesday evening.

Eight traders in Ahmedabad, four in Surat, and one each in Gandhinagar, Rajkot, Anand and Vadodara were searched. Two manufactures of numbered glasses in Ahmedabad and Anand have also come under the scanner and searches were carried out on their premises.

"The business of numbered glasses and sunglasses has grown tremendously in recent years, but the tax collection figures didn't reflect the growth. The traders have to pay around four per cent vat on specs and accessories and 12.5 per cent on sunglasses. But the department received inputs of tax evasion in the business," said a senior Gujarat commercial tax department official.