News Analysis India

Tag: Income Tax Department

  • Modi Ki Guarantee: BJP campaigning through ‘illegal money’, this is ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’: Kapil Sibal

    Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday hit out at the BJP-led government over the electoral bonds issue, alleging the ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ is that the BJP does campaigning with “illegal money” raised through the scheme while the probe agencies “sleep”. Sibal, a senior advocate who is leading the arguments for the petitioners in a case in the Supreme Court against electoral bonds, claimed at a press conference here that 33 loss-making firms donated electoral bonds worth about Rs 581 crore with Rs 434 crore going to the BJP.

    He said the Supreme Court’s verdict on electoral bonds has made it clear that the money the BJP and other parties had was illegal.

    “If this money in the hands of the BJP is illegal, I want to ask the BJP did you get any Income Tax notice? I want to ask the Income Tax Department – did you send any notice to BJP? I want to ask the ED – did you conduct any raid?” Sibal said. “You have frozen the account of the Congress party, but you (BJP) got about Rs 6,655 crore, were your accounts frozen?” he added.

    Escalating his attack on the BJP, Sibal said, “You did not do it. Neither the IT department sent notice nor ED raids were carried out and the CBI also did not register an FIR.”

    “So on one hand the Congress’ accounts are frozen, but since the ED, CBI and IT department are yours (BJP’s), you don’t get any notice or face raids,” he added. The Congress leader claimed that 33 loss-making firms donated electoral bonds worth Rs 582 crore with 434 crore going to the BJP. The IT department knows it so there should be raids. The ED should have reached there and the CBI should have registered an FIR but nothing happened, he said.

    Sibal also claimed that Rs 2,717 crore was donated through electoral bonds by firms whose capital was lower than its donations.

    “The BJP is also safe, companies are also safe. The ED, IT department and CBI are sleeping and the BJP is doing campaigning with that money, this is ‘Modi ki Guarantee’,” Sibal said.

    “The guarantee is that no action will be taken as the ED, CBI and ED is theirs,” he added.

    Sibal also questioned RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and asked why is he silent on the issue.

    “I also want to ask (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat ji, you say that you are not in politics at all, you think about the country but since this decision on electoral bonds has come, Mohan Bhagwat ji did not say anything, he is also silent. He should say that the decision of Modi’s government was wrong,” he said.

    On February 15, a five-judge Constitution bench scrapped the Centre’s electoral bonds scheme of anonymous political funding, calling it “unconstitutional” and ordering disclosure by the Election Commission of the donors, the amount donated by them and the recipients by March 13.

    Subsequently, the electoral bands has been made public.

    The SBI has said that a total of 22,217 electoral bonds of varying denominations were purchased by donors between April 1, 2019, and February 15 this year, out of which 22,030 were redeemed by the political parties.

  • 2024 Lok Sabha elections: ‘BJP needs to pay Rs 4600 crore in tax if I-T examines them’: Congress after getting 1823 cr notice – The Economic Times Video

    Congress treasurer Ajay Maken claimed that BJP will have to pay Rs 4600 crore penalty if the I-T dept examines the ruling party’s financials. This comes after the Income Tax department issued a notice of Rs 1,823.08 crore to Congress, exacerbating the grand old party’s financial concerns. Maken called the I-T notice a premeditated, diabolical campaign against Congress ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress top brass also slammed the I-T department for ‘inactions’ against the ruling party and targeting the opposition. Watch!

  • BRS leader K Kavitha taken into custody, say reports

    Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) MLC K Kavitha was taken into custody on Friday evening. The development came hours after Income Tax Department (I-T) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials conducted searches at her Hyderabad residence, according to media reports. Earlier on Friday, at least 10 officers from both agencies from New Delhi had conducted searches in the presence of Kavitha and her husband D Anil Kumar.

    It was not clear if the action is linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy linked case of the central agency in which the ED has questioned the BRS MLC and daughter of former Telangana chief minister Chandrashekar Rao, PTI reported citing official sources.

    The ED had claimed Kavitha was linked to a “South Group” lobby of liquor traders who were trying to play a larger role under the now scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.Reacting to the searches, BRS spokesperson Sravan Dasoju alleged that the raids were politically motivated and both BJP and Congress are hand-in-glove to harass leaders of the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party.

    “Wherever ( Prime Minister Narendra) Modi goes ED and IT ( Income Tax) either precedes or succeeds. That is what is happening in Telangana. They want to create a panic situation in the BRS. The ED and IT which are working at the behest of BJP are not bothered about the Congress leaders of Telangana who have illegally obtained so much wealth,” the BRS leader told PTI.

    Sravan sought to know why the BJP is “tightlipped” on the cases against Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.“We believe in Satyameva Jayate. Let the truth prevail. We are not saying that IT and ED should not do their jobs, but the selectiveness is vindictiveness. Just before the elections, they are trying to do this mudslinging to dent the image of the BRS,” he added.The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that one of the accused in the case, Vijay Nair, received kickbacks to the tune of at least Rs 100 crore from the “South Group” (allegedly controlled by Sarath Reddy, Kavitha and Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy) on behalf of leaders of the AAP.

    (With inputs from PTI)

  • I-T officials conduct searches at premises linked to DMK MP Jagathrakshakan in Tamil Nadu

    By Agencies

    CHENNAI: The Income Tax Department on Thursday conducted searches at over 40 locations linked to former Union Minister and current Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) member of Parliament S Jagathrakshakan in Tamil Nadu.

    Over 40 premises linked to the MP in Tamil Nadu are being searched by the Income Tax Department. 

    Jagathrakshakan is a Lok Sabha MP from the Arakonnam constituency of Tamil Nadu and has been elected from his constituency thrice.

    #WATCH | Income Tax Department is conducting searches at over 40 premises of DMK MP S Jagathrakshakan in Tamil Nadu.Visuals from T. Nagar in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/krpahphbjK
    — ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2023
    Earlier, the Income Tax Department conducted raids around 10 premises in Karur (Tamil Nadu) linked to jailed DMK minister Senthil Balaji. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on June 14 in a money laundering case.

    The searches were being held at many places, including some educational institutions, sources said without divulging details. Further updates in this connection are awaited.

    CHENNAI: The Income Tax Department on Thursday conducted searches at over 40 locations linked to former Union Minister and current Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) member of Parliament S Jagathrakshakan in Tamil Nadu.

    Over 40 premises linked to the MP in Tamil Nadu are being searched by the Income Tax Department. 

    Jagathrakshakan is a Lok Sabha MP from the Arakonnam constituency of Tamil Nadu and has been elected from his constituency thrice.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    #WATCH | Income Tax Department is conducting searches at over 40 premises of DMK MP S Jagathrakshakan in Tamil Nadu.
    Visuals from T. Nagar in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/krpahphbjK
    — ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2023
    Earlier, the Income Tax Department conducted raids around 10 premises in Karur (Tamil Nadu) linked to jailed DMK minister Senthil Balaji. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on June 14 in a money laundering case.

    The searches were being held at many places, including some educational institutions, sources said without divulging details. Further updates in this connection are awaited.

  • I-T raids at premises linked to businessmen in Chhattisgarh; Congress takes dig at Centre

    By PTI

    RAIPUR: The Income Tax Department on Wednesday conducted raids at multiple locations linked to some businessmen in Chhattisgarh, police officials said.

    The searches are underway since early this morning in different districts including Raipur and Raigarh.

    Police officials in these districts confirmed that the IT teams assisted by the Central police force are present at the premises, including offices, of some steel and coal traders and civil contractors.

    The nature of the action being carried out by the I-T department is not yet clear, they said.

    Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel told reporters at the Raipur airport that he had already predicted raids by the Income Tax and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

    “I had said (that raids will happen)… now ED will also follow them,” Baghel said when asked about the action by the IT department.

    Last week, Baghel had said his “well-wishers” informed him that Chhattisgarh will soon see raids by the ED and IT because MLAs of the ruling UPA coalition from neighbouring Jharkhand were staying at a resort near Raipur.

    The legislators of the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition had stayed in the resort for six days before they were flown back to Ranchi on Sunday.

    Commenting on the raids, Chhattisgarh Congress communication wing’s chief Sushil Anand Shukla alleged the Modi government has been misusing the Central probe agencies.

    “There are reports that raids are being carried out by I-T at the premises of some businessmen. The way the Modi government is misusing Central investigation agencies, a slogan ‘kednra sarkar ke teen jamai (sons-in-law), ED, IT, and CBI’ has become common among people,” he said.

    Shukla alleged the Modi government has misused the Central agencies against its political opponents so much in the last eight years that even when I-T conducts raids as part of the routine investigation it is also seen as a politically motivated exercise.

    In June-July this year, the I-T department raided several places in Chhattisgarh including the premises of coal trader Suryakant Tiwari and the house of a government official posted at the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

    RAIPUR: The Income Tax Department on Wednesday conducted raids at multiple locations linked to some businessmen in Chhattisgarh, police officials said.

    The searches are underway since early this morning in different districts including Raipur and Raigarh.

    Police officials in these districts confirmed that the IT teams assisted by the Central police force are present at the premises, including offices, of some steel and coal traders and civil contractors.

    The nature of the action being carried out by the I-T department is not yet clear, they said.

    Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel told reporters at the Raipur airport that he had already predicted raids by the Income Tax and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

    “I had said (that raids will happen)… now ED will also follow them,” Baghel said when asked about the action by the IT department.

    Last week, Baghel had said his “well-wishers” informed him that Chhattisgarh will soon see raids by the ED and IT because MLAs of the ruling UPA coalition from neighbouring Jharkhand were staying at a resort near Raipur.

    The legislators of the JMM-Congress-RJD coalition had stayed in the resort for six days before they were flown back to Ranchi on Sunday.

    Commenting on the raids, Chhattisgarh Congress communication wing’s chief Sushil Anand Shukla alleged the Modi government has been misusing the Central probe agencies.

    “There are reports that raids are being carried out by I-T at the premises of some businessmen. The way the Modi government is misusing Central investigation agencies, a slogan ‘kednra sarkar ke teen jamai (sons-in-law), ED, IT, and CBI’ has become common among people,” he said.

    Shukla alleged the Modi government has misused the Central agencies against its political opponents so much in the last eight years that even when I-T conducts raids as part of the routine investigation it is also seen as a politically motivated exercise.

    In June-July this year, the I-T department raided several places in Chhattisgarh including the premises of coal trader Suryakant Tiwari and the house of a government official posted at the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

  • 83 cr Income Tax returns filed till Jul 31, record 72.42 cr on last day New Delhi

    By PTI

    A record 72.42 lakh income tax returns were filed on the last day of such filing on July 31, taking the cumulative returns to 5.83 crore, near to the same levels of last year.

    While initially income tax return (ITR) filing was slow, the pace picked up as the deadline neared.

    “The surge of filing ITRs peaked on July 31, 2022 (due date for salaried taxpayers and other non-tax audit cases) with over 72.42 lakh ITRs being filed on a single day,” an official statement said.

    The total ITRs filed till July 31, 2022 for assessment year 22-23 is about 5.83 crore, it said.

    Last fiscal (2020-21), about 5.89 crore ITRs (Income Tax Returns) were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021.

    Typically, return filers wait till the last day to file returns.

    Over the last two financial years, the government had extended the deadline for filing ITRs to ease compliance for taxpayers battling Covid pandemic.

    But this year the deadline was not extended by even by a day.

    Through ITR, a person is supposed to submit to the Income Tax Department information about the income and the taxes due and paid on it during the year.

    The Income Tax Department has prescribed 7 types of ITR forms, whose applicability will depend on the nature and amount of income and the type of taxpayer.

    The tax department’s new income tax filing portal is now very robust to take the increased loads.

    “The e-filing portal also set other benchmarks on July 31, 2022 including – highest per second rate of ITR filing: 570 (at 4:29:30 pm), highest per minute rate of ITR filing: 9573 (at 7:44 pm), and the highest per hour rate of ITR filing: 5,17,030, between 5 PM to 6 PM,” the statement said.

    The initial pace of e-filing was relatively much slower with the first 1 crore ITRs for AY 22-23 being filed only by July 7.

    The pace picked up marginally, with about 2.48 crore ITRs being filed by July 22.

    “With the Government announcing that there would be no extension of the due date, there was a surge in filing of ITRs and by July 25, 2022, 3 crore ITRs had been filed. By the end of the day on 31st July,2022, 72.42 lakh ITRs had been filed, shattering all previous records (maximum being 49 lakh ITRs in 2019). In the month of July, 2022 alone, over 5.13 crore ITRs have been filed,” it said.

    Out of 5.83 crore ITRs filed for AY 2022-23, 50 per cent of these are ITR-1 (2.93 crore), 11.5 per cent are ITR-2 (67 lakh), 10.9 per cent are ITR-3 (63.35 lakh) and 26 per cent are ITR-4 (1.54 crore).

    “The number of ITRs filed during working hours (9 AM-6 PM) since 7th July, 2022 to 31st July, 2022 is around 3.31 crore, which is 58.77% of the total ITRs filed,” it said.

    “Over 47% of these ITRs have been filed using the online ITR form on the portal and the balance have been uploaded using the ITR created from the offline software utilities.” 

    Large number of taxpayers did their due diligence by comparing data of their income by viewing their Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). A high rate of usage of AIS/TIS data was reflected by the fact that more than 5.03 crore taxpayers viewed/downloaded their AIS.

    This year a large portion of the data for ITR-1 was already prefilled with salary, interest and dividend income making compliance easier for taxpayers.

    For other ITRs 2, 3, 4, apart from this data, property details for rental income, brought forward losses, MAT credit was also pre-filled to further ease compliance for taxpayers.

    A record 72.42 lakh income tax returns were filed on the last day of such filing on July 31, taking the cumulative returns to 5.83 crore, near to the same levels of last year.

    While initially income tax return (ITR) filing was slow, the pace picked up as the deadline neared.

    “The surge of filing ITRs peaked on July 31, 2022 (due date for salaried taxpayers and other non-tax audit cases) with over 72.42 lakh ITRs being filed on a single day,” an official statement said.

    The total ITRs filed till July 31, 2022 for assessment year 22-23 is about 5.83 crore, it said.

    Last fiscal (2020-21), about 5.89 crore ITRs (Income Tax Returns) were filed by the extended due date of December 31, 2021.

    Typically, return filers wait till the last day to file returns.

    Over the last two financial years, the government had extended the deadline for filing ITRs to ease compliance for taxpayers battling Covid pandemic.

    But this year the deadline was not extended by even by a day.

    Through ITR, a person is supposed to submit to the Income Tax Department information about the income and the taxes due and paid on it during the year.

    The Income Tax Department has prescribed 7 types of ITR forms, whose applicability will depend on the nature and amount of income and the type of taxpayer.

    The tax department’s new income tax filing portal is now very robust to take the increased loads.

    “The e-filing portal also set other benchmarks on July 31, 2022 including – highest per second rate of ITR filing: 570 (at 4:29:30 pm), highest per minute rate of ITR filing: 9573 (at 7:44 pm), and the highest per hour rate of ITR filing: 5,17,030, between 5 PM to 6 PM,” the statement said.

    The initial pace of e-filing was relatively much slower with the first 1 crore ITRs for AY 22-23 being filed only by July 7.

    The pace picked up marginally, with about 2.48 crore ITRs being filed by July 22.

    “With the Government announcing that there would be no extension of the due date, there was a surge in filing of ITRs and by July 25, 2022, 3 crore ITRs had been filed. By the end of the day on 31st July,2022, 72.42 lakh ITRs had been filed, shattering all previous records (maximum being 49 lakh ITRs in 2019). In the month of July, 2022 alone, over 5.13 crore ITRs have been filed,” it said.

    Out of 5.83 crore ITRs filed for AY 2022-23, 50 per cent of these are ITR-1 (2.93 crore), 11.5 per cent are ITR-2 (67 lakh), 10.9 per cent are ITR-3 (63.35 lakh) and 26 per cent are ITR-4 (1.54 crore).

    “The number of ITRs filed during working hours (9 AM-6 PM) since 7th July, 2022 to 31st July, 2022 is around 3.31 crore, which is 58.77% of the total ITRs filed,” it said.

    “Over 47% of these ITRs have been filed using the online ITR form on the portal and the balance have been uploaded using the ITR created from the offline software utilities.” 

    Large number of taxpayers did their due diligence by comparing data of their income by viewing their Annual Information Statement (AIS) and Taxpayer Information Summary (TIS). A high rate of usage of AIS/TIS data was reflected by the fact that more than 5.03 crore taxpayers viewed/downloaded their AIS.

    This year a large portion of the data for ITR-1 was already prefilled with salary, interest and dividend income making compliance easier for taxpayers.

    For other ITRs 2, 3, 4, apart from this data, property details for rental income, brought forward losses, MAT credit was also pre-filled to further ease compliance for taxpayers.

  • PAN to become inoperative after March 2023 if not linked to Aadhaar

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Department on Wednesday said non-linking of PAN with Aadhaar by March 31 would attract penalty of up to Rs 1,000, but such PAN will remain functional for one more year till March 2023, for filing ITR, claiming refunds and other I-T procedures.

    The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), which is the apex decision making body on direct taxes, has extended the deadline for linking Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar many times and the last date now is March 31, 2022.

    As per a circular issued by CBDT on Wednesday, PAN, not linked to Aadhaar, would become “inoperative” after March 31, 2023.

    Those taxpayers who link their PAN with biometric Aadhaar by June 30, 2022, would be required to pay late fees of Rs 500.

    Beyond that, the penalty would rise to Rs 1,000.

    In order to mitigate the inconvenience to taxpayers, as per notification dated March 29, 2022, a window of opportunity has been provided to taxpayers up to March 31, 2023 to intimate their Aadhaar to the prescribed authority for Aadhaar-PAN linking without facing repercussions, the CBDT said, adding such intimation would have to be accompanied by late fees.

    “However, till 31st March, 2023 the PAN of the assessees who have not intimated their Aadhaar, will continue to be functional for the procedures under the Act, like furnishing of return of income, processing of refunds etc,” the CBDT statement said.

    After March 31, 2023, the PAN of taxpayers who fail to intimate their Aadhaar, as required, shall become inoperative and all the consequences under the Act for not furnishing, intimating or quoting the PAN shall apply to such taxpayers, the CBDT added.

    As per data available, till January 24, 2022, more than 43.34 crore PANs have been linked with Aadhaar.

    Over 131 crore Aadhaar cards have been issued so far.

    PAN-Aadhaar linkage would help in eliminating duplicate PAN and curbing tax evasion.

    AKM Global, Tax Partner, Amit Maheshwari said “It is advisable for taxpayers to check their income tax portal and ensure that Aadhaar and PAN are linked. NRIs may have some concerns since in some cases they do not have Aadhaar.”

    Nangia Andersen LLP Partner Neeraj Agarwala said, while PAN is used for various transactions like opening a bank account, purchase of immovable property or proof of identity, inactive PAN will trigger domino effect and individual who have not linked their Aadhaar may face multiple challenges.

    “Once your PAN becomes inactive, the person will be restricted from doing financial transactions (where quoting of PAN is mandatory like mutual funds), subjected to TDS at higher rates and penalty under section 272B,” Agarwala said.

    For those who do not have access to income tax portal, the linking process is made available through SMS also, he added.

  • Income Tax department​ raids Hero Motorcorp, chairman Pawan Munjal’s premises

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department is conducting raids on multiple premises of Hero Motorcorp as part of a tax evasion investigation against the country’s largest two-wheeler automobile company, officials said Wednesday morning.

    Offices and residential premises of the promoters including chairman and CEO of the group Pawan Munjal in Gurugram, Haryana, Delhi and few other locations are being covered, they said. A team of officials of the department are looking at financial documents and other business transactions of the company and the promoters, they said.

  • I-T department raids Noida-based real estate group over tax evasion probe

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Income Tax department on Tuesday raided multiple premises linked to a Noida-based real estate group as part of a tax evasion investigation against it and others, official sources said. They said that offices and residential locations of the ACE group in Noida and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh, apart from a few other places like Baghpat, are being covered.

    Ajay Choudhary is the CMD of the realty group, which said it was “fully cooperating” with the concerned agencies. “As a law-abiding company, we strictly adhere to all laws, rules and regulations. Income-Tax (department) had raided the group three months back and even at that time the group had fully cooperated with the agency,” an ACE group spokesperson said.

    The sources said that the realty group is stated to have developed commercial and residential projects in Noida, Greater Noida and some other locations in the National Capital Region. The tax authorities are also raiding an Agra-based group engaged in shoe business on similar charges.

    The sources said that another Uttar Pradesh-based group was also being searched. They said some of those raided have political links and the I-T department has recovered tax-related documents during the surprise action that began early morning along with police escort.

  • Mumbai Diary: All that is happening in the country’s financial capital

    Express News Service

    ‘Secret ops’ reason for I-T raids on Ajit Pawar’s sister

    The Income Tax department’s search at the residence of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s sister has taken the state’s political circles by surprise. It was unexpected that the I-T sleuths would raid Ajit Pawar’s family members. A major political reason attributed to the development is the move by 20 BJP MLAs to jump ship to the NCP.

    The deputy CM has been handling this highly confidential political operation which has sent alarms across the BJP state camp. The I-T raid comes as a message to Pawar that if he dares to welcome BJP MLAs, he and his family members will have to face the music.

    Sonia Gandhi to meet party’s state general secretary Rajesh Sharma on plaint against minister

    Congress national president Sonia Gandhi will soon meet party state general secretary Rajesh Sharma to discuss his complaint against Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad after he raised questions over the latter’s conduct.

    Earlier, Sharma had written to Sonia Gandhi stating that Gaikwad had not been effective in ensuring the education of poor students. The minister’s move in okaying the acquisition of two colleges by private players has been flagged by the general secretary.

    Sharma had said that he met several Congress leaders and ministers but none bat an eye. Following this,  he addressed the complaint against Varsha Gaikwad to the party national president. Now, she has agreed to meet the general secretary in Delhi. 

    Aaditya Thackeray receives climate action award 

    Maharashtra environment minister Aaditya Thackeray has received the Inspiring Regional Leadership Award from Under2 Coalition for Climate Action – a global network of states and provinces on climate action – on the sidelines of COP26 in Glasgow, the UK, on Sunday.

    However, another controversy is brewing over a few bureaucrats without the Centre’s approval having travelled to Glasgow as part of the state delegation. These officials include Ashish Singh, who is personal assistant to Maharashtra chief minister, and his wife Valsa Nair Singh.  

    Youth Congress president, Mumbai unit chief tussle deepens further

    Infighting within the Congress is not new. The tussle between Mumbai Congress president Bhai Jagtap with Youth Congress president and MLA Zeeshan Siddique has hit a new low with the former directing derogatory comments against the latter.

    They literally fought during a Congress rally in Mumbai. Siddiqui was not happy with Bhai Jagtap because Jagtap spent his MLC fund in Siddiqui’s constituency. It was said that it was a deliberate attempt by Jagtap to interfere in the affairs of Siddiqui’s constituency and make him look bad.