Taxpayers who have shown fake deductions in their ITRs (income tax returns), made false claims or deliberately concealed any income are warned by the Income Tax Department to correct their mistake by filing a revised ITR – ITR-U. Otherwise, they will have to face strict action, the finance ministry recently said in a circular.
In the last one year, the government has, through its various outreach programmes and efforts, including SMS and email advisories, nudged taxpayers to revise their returns and come clean by paying the due amount, if any.
The government efforts yielded results, and over 40,000 taxpayers revised their ITRs in the last four months and withdrew their fake claims, which amounted to Rs 1,045 crore.
However, the government believes there are many who are possibly under the influence of the masterminds behind these evasion rackets.
Also read: ITR refund scam: Income Tax Dept cracks down on CA-run rackets promising inflated tax refunds
A web of wrong tax deductions has allegedly spread across the country through chartered accountants (CAs) and tax consultants. People are lured with a high refund promise and made to fill false claims in sections like 80GGC, 80D, 80E, 80U, the tax department claimed.
The I-T department started investigating and found that thousands of taxpayers were hand in glove with CAs to claim high refunds. But in line with its guiding principle of ‘Trust Taxpayers First’, the I-T Department resorted to voluntary compliance, and as a result, false claims worth over Rs 1,000 crore were withdrawn.
Major action by Income Tax Dept: Raids at 150 places, tax evasion rackets exposed
The Income Tax Department has conducted search operations at around 150 places across the country, mainly tax filing centres run by CAs, consultancy agencies and middlemen. Fake bills, fake donation receipts, incorrect TDS certificates and even cloned PAN details were found during these raids. This action clearly shows that the government is now in aggressive mode and no tax evasion will be tolerated, according to experts.
ITR-U: Correct your mistake yourself, get out clean without notice
The government has provided the facility of ITR-U i.e. Updated Return Form for such people, through which you can correct the wrong ITR for the last four years – provided you have accepted the mistake yourself.
Also read: Action against tax evaders: 40,000 taxpayers withdraw Rs 1,045-crore bogus ITR claims after income tax crackdown
Who should file ITR-U? » Read More
