Stepping up measures to recover over Rs 1,00,000 crore of unpaid taxes, the Income Tax (I-T) Department has set up a special cell to track taxpayers who are “untraceable” or have reported inadequate assets to pay back tax demands. The department has also decided to search and approach every possible database or agency, ranging from the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Financial Intelligence Unit, banks to local police stations, municipal authorities and network of informers for any clue about such taxpayers.
Various commissioners of the department across the country have also been asked to send quarterly reports of their areas in this regard to the special cell created in the Recoveries wing of the department in the National Capital.
“The special cell will liase with all the I-T ranges across the country and obtain data from various government databases. The department will also sift information on such taxpayers in its own databases like PAN card and 360-degree profiling,” a senior I-T official said.
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in June this year constituted a committee under Director General (Administration) to examine pending cases on I-T demands under the categories “assessees not traceable” and “no assets/ inadequate assets for recovery”.
According to the latest data, I-T demands have been pegged at Rs 1,01,836 crore.
The constitution of this committee, which have senior I-T officials from various units including investigation and intelligence, is among the measures the government has taken to fight black money.
The I-T department has recently decided to publish the names of defaulters who owe more than Rs 10 crore as unpaid taxes.
The department has decided to send show cause notices to such assessees, who have reported “no assets/inadequate assets for recovery”, by this month end asking why their names should not be published and put in the public domain.
