NEW DELHI: The Income-Tax Department has detected under-reporting of sales worth ₹408 crore following a nationwide survey of restaurants on suspicion of tax evasion, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said on Monday.

The tax authorities conducted surveys at the business premises of 62 restaurants across 46 cities in 22 states on Sunday as part of the operation. Preliminary findings from the exercise revealed suppression of sales amounting to approximately ₹408 crore, the CBDT said in a statement, adding that further investigation into the matter is currently underway.

Following the surveys, the department has begun sending emails and messages to nearly 63,000 restaurants across the country requesting them to review and update their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) before March 31.

According to the CBDT, the action stems from an investigation launched in November 2025 into irregularities in the food and beverage sector. During the exercise, officials found that several restaurants were allegedly deleting bulk bills and making other alterations in their billing systems in order to suppress actual sales figures.

The tax department also used advanced analytics and artificial intelligence tools to examine transactional data from about 1.77 lakh restaurants. This data was compared with the turnover figures reported by these establishments in their tax filings, which helped identify large-scale under-reporting of income.

In several cases, the recorded sales were found to be missing from financial accounts or tax returns. Some transactions were also allegedly excluded from reported sales to reduce tax liabilities.

Officials said the probe gathered momentum after the department's investigation wing in Hyderabad conducted a survey at the premises of a company that develops billing software for restaurants. During the inspection, authorities discovered that certain hotels and restaurants were allegedly manipulating the software to under-report their income.