Tax evasion of Rs 15 crore was detected in raids conducted by teams of service tax department on Shukan Builders at 20 locations of Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. More than 50 officials of the department took part in the operation. The service tax collection from real estate sector in the first five months of the FY 2013-14 has gone down by 7%. It is likely that the department may conduct more such raids against defaulters.

One of the top officials of the department said, "Tax amounting to Rs 2 crore was collected from the spot. The rest amount will be recovered soon."

The official said that the builder had not paid service tax after collecting it from customers. The officials also detected ambiguous entries in bills. "The defaulter will be penalized by the service tax department once the investigation is over," said the official.

"The construction industry is under scanner as tax collection from the sector has gone down considerably. We are also keeping an eye on event management companies in the time of festivities," he added.