Tax Evasion

The Income Tax department has slapped a Rs 135-crore demand notice on Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS couple Arvind and Tinu Joshi for alleged tax evasion. The department had conducted searches in Bhopal and other premises of the 1979-batch couple during the financial year 2009-10 and after scrutiny of their financial holdings and assets, a tax demand notice has been issued against them a few days back. Full Article

Section 69 does not provide any guideline about the extent and length of the discretionary power given to AO in the matter of treating the investment as income which is unexplained or unsatisfactorily explained by the investor-assessee. Therefore, Assessing Officer is expected to appreciate the reasonable explanation offered to him, the evidences produced before him about the nature and source of investment and he can not make the addition merely on surmises, conjectures.. Full Article

Sixteen number of imported luxury cars have been seized in the country during the recent past between April,2011 to July 2011.They are valued at Rs.6.75 crores and involves evasion of duty of Rs.4.87 crores. All Customs field formations have been sensitized and alerted to prevent smuggling of imported cars into the country. Action under the provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 has been initiated against the importers. Full Article

In a major haul, the city's tax department has detected tax evasion in undeclared sale of diamonds worth Rs 5,150 crore which were imported through the Delhi airport. Teams from trade and taxes department carried out raids at premises of 29 importers and dealers of diamond across the city and discovered the evasion of VAT to the tune of more than Rs 100 crore. Full Article

Taking a step forward against black money, the Finance Ministry has asked the Income Tax Department to launch immediate prosecution action in tax evasion cases wherein tangible assets and investments are located in foreign shores. 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. Full Article

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has appreciated the action taken by India in handling tax evasion and black money issues. During the two day high level Seminar held on 13th and 14th June on “Adopting Tax System and International Tax Rules to the New Global Environment : a Shared Challenge for India and the OECD” at Vigyan Bhavan in New Delhi, both OECD and India decided to enhance their cooperation in dealing with issues relating to trans.. Full Article

The government can do without making tax evasion a criminal offence as the existing income tax laws , which provide for rigorous imprisonment up to seven years for willful default, has not been used effectively to unearth black money , say experts . ,One can be jailed for seven years (rigorous imprisonment ) for willful evasion of tax (above Rs.1 lakh). Full Article

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today exuded confidence that modified tax avoidance agreements with various countries and pacts with tax havens will help in dealing with the menace of black money. Income Tax Department is engaged in ways to tackle with black money, he told reporters on the sidelines of an income tax conference here. Full Article