I-T dept shames defaulters: Lists names of 5 cos owing Rs 10 cr in taxes

The Income Tax department on Wednesday published names of five entities owing over Rs 10 crore in taxes, as part of its strategy to name and shame big defaulters.

In an advertisement issued in leading national dailies, the department brought out the list of defaulters of income tax and corporate tax even as it advised them to pay their "tax arrears immediately".

The department has begun this exercise of naming and shaming I-T defaulters since the last few years and had named at least 96 such entities which have huge tax liabilities on them and have either gone non-traceable or have shown no assets for recovery.

The latest list has names of five such alleged defaulters, based in Delhi.

A senior official said the public list, with details of the individual or entity like their PAN card number (in certain cases), last known address and assessment range and defaulted amount of tax, is also aimed to make aware the people at large so that they can inform the department in case they have some inputs against them.

"The entries in the list are specific to the tax arrears and assessment year mentioned. The tax defaulter's address, business, shareholding and management may have changed," the notice issued by the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax (New Delhi) said.

The total taxes due by these five defaulters is Rs 10.27 crore, the notice said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy- making body of the tax department, had few years back adopted the strategy of bringing out the names of chronic defaulters in public domain and had also begun posting these names on its official website.