Third-party information related to high-value transactions in immovable properties would be one of the focus areas of the Income Tax Department this year, for tracking tax evasion and generating additional tax revenues.
A senior Income Tax Department official told Business Standard that tax evasion in the high-value deals where permanent account number records were not available had been a huge untapped area.
"Areas such as sale and purchase of immovable properties and fixed deposits by agriculturists can easily be tracked to identify and recover tax due," he added.
The official said the Central Information Branch of the department, which collects third-party information from sources other than the annual information return on these transactions, is going to play a critical role.
The AIR and CIB data would be merged and available in a composite form for taking action.
The CIB has now been empowered to collect, verify and take action on the basis of information gathered.
"This will expedite action in the cases where credible information on tax evasion would come from the third parties," said the official.
The department is also dwelling on the idea of making PAN mandatory in the immovable property transactions.
This may be done initially in the urban areas.
With its focus on third-party information, the department also plans to look at the mismatch between the income and company profile of directors in the cases where there would be stark differences in the I-T