The Income Tax department will start proceeding against people who have not filed their returns post-demonetisation even after receiving notices from the department, a senior official said on Wednesday.
After inaugurating a stall of the Income Tax Department at the India International Trade Fair at Pragati Maidan in Delhi, Shri. Sushil Chandra, Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said the taxman has also identified nearly 80 lakh people who had filed their returns during the past three years but have not done that so far.
The CBDT chief said the decision to demonetise high-value currency “really helped in increasing the tax base in the country and as well as the net revenue of this country from direct taxes”.
“If you see, last year contribution of direct taxes was 52 per cent and the contribution of indirect taxes was 48 per cent. This has happened after many years that the contribution of direct taxes is more than the indirect taxes,” he added.
Asked how demonetisation helped, he said: “I would say that the money has now come into bank accounts so it is easy for us to track as to how many persons have deposited the cash without corresponding returns.”
Talking about enforcement by the department after the notes ban declaration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the CBDT chief said they have sent emails and SMSes to a large number of people who have filed their returns after this communication.
“Around 3 lakh notices were sent to persons who did not file returns post the demonetisation. These are statutory notices. About 2.25 lakh people filed their returns thereafter. In 80,000 cases, where the returns were not filed, the department is chasing and the assessment will have to be framed,” he said.
Apart from the post-demonetisation exercise, the department is also pursuing those who have not filed their returns on time.
