The Income-Tax (I-T) department has issued around 8,000 notices to salaried employees, self-employed individuals, and companies who made significant donations to charitable trusts. The department suspects potential tax evasion, as records of these donations do not correspond with the income and expenses of those making them. Sandeep Bajaj, managing partner, PSL Advocates & Solicitors, says, "Notices were issued for donations made during the assessment years of 2017-18 through 2020-21."
The Income Tax department is gearing up to prepare a 360-degree tax profiling of individual tax payers in the country to keep a tab on tax evasion and money laundering.
Six years after the rollout of the biggest indirect tax reform in India, Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue of Rs 1.5 lakh crore every month has become a new normal and tax officers are focusing on dealing with fraudsters who are adopting newer modus operandi to game the system, causing loss to the exchequer. To apprehend black sheep, who operate as syndicates and create fake entities on the basis of forged documents to claim input tax credit (ITC), tax officers have started using data analytics, artifical intelligence and machine learning aiming to curb evasion, which was over Rs 3 lakh crore since inception of GST. It was over Rs 1 lakh crore in 2022-23. Thinktank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said the most critical pending GST reform is upgradation of GST Network to prevent fake supplies and fraudulent claims of Input Tax Credit (ITC).
The Budget announcement of zero tax for earnings upto Rs 12 lakh per annum and the rejig of tax slabs across the board should prompt more than 90 per cent of individual taxpayers to embrace the new tax regime as compared to the about 75 per cent as of now, CBDT Chairman Ravi Agrawal said. Agrawal also highlighted the government's focus on "non-intrusive" tax administration through enhanced use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and simplified tax processes for common taxpayers. He emphasized the benefits of the new tax regime (NTR), which offers simple calculations and allows taxpayers to file their ITR without professional help. The CBDT chief stated that the Budget provisions related to income tax payment benefit all income earners, not just those earning Rs 12 lakh per annum, creating a positive sentiment in the economy and propelling growth. The department is also harnessing technology, including AI and data analytics, to widen and deepen the tax base, resulting in increased compliance and tax revenue. Agrawal further highlighted the positive impact of data availability and simplified tax processes on compliance rates, citing examples of taxpayers filing revised returns and paying taxes after being prompted by the department's data analysis.
The case dates back to August 2017 when the Income Tax department had carried out searches at multiple premises in Delhi as part of its alleged tax evasion probe against Shivakumar, his alleged business associate and liquor trader Sachin Narayan, another associate Sunil Kumar Sharma who operated a fleet of luxury buses, Karnataka Bhawan (Delhi) employee A Hanumanthaiah and former state government employee and caretaker posted at the Karnataka Bhawan Rajendra N.
Over the last two years, despite an amnesty scheme, only about Rs 2,500 crore of taxes have been recovered.
The Delhi high court on Friday dismissed petitions by Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra against the income tax department's decision to transfer their assessments to the Central Circle, which is mandated to check tax evasion, instead of an ordinary assessment in a matter related to fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) said through a post on its official Twitter handle that the premises of its MLC Pushpraj alias Pampi Jain in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, have been raided.
British broadcaster BBC has communicated to the income-tax department that some of its past income, for its operations in India, could have gone unreported during the statutory filing of returns and hence it would like to amend it, official sources said on Wednesday.
The income tax department has detected alleged tax evasion to the tune of Rs 7 crore in the business transactions of Purti group of companies related to former Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari.
Kerala Finance Minister K N Balagopal has sought systemic changes in the GST structure, saying every state and consumer has lost because of its basically flawed architecture that has also led to rampant revenue leakage for the states. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime came into force in July 2017. Even though the framework is focused on having a one-nation-one-tax model, quite a few items, including petroleum products and liquor are still out of the GST purview.
Businesses across the country may soon be required to issue electronic invoices, or e-invoices, directly to consumers for the sale of goods and services. The Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council, in its forthcoming meeting on Monday, is expected to discuss extending the e-invoicing mandate to cover business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions. Currently, e-invoicing is compulsory for businesses with a turnover of Rs 5 crore and above, but only for their business-to-business (B2B) transactions.
India's global requests for obtaining classified tax information, in the face of a number of high-profile tax evasion and scam cases, has also seen a 59 per cent jump -- with a total of 646 requests -- as compared to a total of 386 similar letters during the 2011-12 fiscal.
Income Tax department on Monday began searches at the premises of FMCG company Vicco Laboratories in Mumbai, Nagpur and Goa for alleged tax evasion.
The tax payers' net in India is widening, but also growing is the tax evaders' list. The first half of this fiscal saw 69 more cases of tax evasion with assets worth nearly Rs 217.07 crore (Rs 2.17 billion) seized, compared to Rs 171.57 crore last fiscal.
The Trump trade shock is a chance to push long-overdue reforms, rather than tinker with tariffs to appease the US, suggests M Govinda Rao.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the recent confrontation between India and Pakistan was not just a mere conflict between two neighbours, but it was about combating terrorism, which will eventually come back to haunt the West.
In a case related to Mumbai-based Jai Trust versus Union government, the court ruled that a gift is a consideration-less transaction, and hence, not liable for capital gains tax. It quashes the reassessment notice issued by the tax authorities alleging that a specific income has escaped assessment on transfer of shares as gift by the trust.
India and the US inked a tax information sharing agreement under FATCA which will enable automatic exchange of financial information.
The department had launched searches against the 48-year-old actor and the Lucknow-based group of industries involved in infrastructure on September 15 and the CBDT said the action was continuing.
The department has been asked to do away with the norm of taking permission from higher authorities to initiate legal action and begin proceedings against tax evasion.
As the raids were completed, the I-T team took two managers of the distillery located at Sutapada to an unknown location for interrogation, they said.
Since arraignment under money laundering is a tougher offence, the CBDT hopes it will also overcome its dismal score sheet to prove satisfactorily to the courts that these cases were genuine ones of tax evasion.
A UK court on Monday ruled that Sanjay Bhandari, an accused middleman and consultant in arms deals, can be extradited to India to face charges of tax evasion and money laundering.
GST authorities have issued show cause notices worth Rs 1 lakh crore to online gaming companies for tax evasion so far, a senior official said on Wednesday. The official, however, said there is no data yet of foreign gaming companies registering in India since October 1. The government has amended the GST law, making it mandatory for overseas online gaming companies to register in India from October 1.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday conducted raids against Hero Motocorp executive chairperson Pawan Munjal and others as part of a money laundering investigation, official sources said. The searches were carried out at premises located in Delhi and neighbouring Gurugram in accordance with provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
'It is ensured that no adversaries or people who oppose Tahawwur Rana's philosophy are housed in the same ward or jail.' 'Additionally, it is ensured that he does not have any prior contacts within that jail.' 'So, the lodgment of such a high-profile prisoner is done very carefully.'
Obama to push for expansion of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.
.jpg)
A non-compliance with FATCA entails 30 per cent withholding tax on certain US source payments.
Mourinho is unlikely to serve any time in jail under the deal because Spanish law states that a sentence of under two years for a first offence can be served on probation. The Spanish tax agency was not immediately available for comment.
Reducing tax evasion will help government to earn more revenues.
The tax department had launched the action on Tuesday at the BBC's Delhi and Mumbai offices along with at least two linked premises as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion against the British broadcaster in India.
Anti-money laundering efforts will not succeed unless banking secrecy laws are repealed.
The income-tax department continued its searches in different places linked to an Odisha-based distillery group on charges of tax evasion for the sixth consecutive day on Monday after recovering unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 353 crore, the 'highest-ever' haul in a single action by any probe agency in the country, officials said.
The income tax department's marathon "surveys" at BBC's offices ended on Thursday, after clocking over 58 hours in total, as officials prepared an inventory of financial data from select staffers and collected digital and paper data.
The sentence could go up to three years if the evasion exceeds Rs 50 lakh (5 million).
The details that have been shared include identification, account and financial information, including name, address, country of residence and tax identification number, as well as information concerning the reporting financial institution, account balance and capital income.
Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has reached a deal with the Spanish tax authorities
Dismissing the notion that Mauritius is a tax haven, the island nation's Vice Prime Minister Ramakrishna Sithanen on Tuesday said he has not received any complaints from India about routing investments via his country to evade taxes.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances