I-T lens on deposits of Rs 4.17 lakh crore by 1.8 mn persons

Banned notes deposited in over 7 million accounts of PAN cardholders

Under the demonetisation drive, seven million PAN (permanent account number) card holders deposited high-denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, of which 1.8 million persons’ cash deposits are not matching with their tax profile, according to the income tax (I-T) department. These deposits aggregated to Rs 4.17 lakh crore, a senior tax official told Business Standard.

Most of these 1.8 million persons have deposited over Rs 5 lakh during the period of exchanging old notes and identified to be suspicious. The tax department has sought explanation from them within 10 days to avoid tax notices.

“We have compared a large amount of data with the income profile, turnover and various other particulars of income available in the I-T data bank. In the first phase where the deposits in accounts are not matching with our data, we are putting them on our e-filing portal, seeking explanation of source of income,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman Sushil Chandra said in a press conference.

This has come when the CBDT on Tuesday launched Operation Clean Money project, which enables data analysis and profiling of assessees. The project would help in sending e-mails/texts to people whose cash deposits after the November 8 note ban do not match their income. E-mail and texts will also be sent to the taxpayers for submitting online response on the e-filing portal, the CBDT said in its press release.

The tax department has compiled data from banks, which have provided statements of financial transactions, detailing cash deposits between November 10 and December 30, 2016, along with figures of deposits in similar accounts for the period April 1-November 8, 2016. Banks were asked to file the details before January 31.

Data show that there were over 10 million accounts, where cash of over Rs 2 lakh had been deposited and involved unique PAN of seven million persons.

“The response of taxpayers will be assessed against available information. In case explanation of source of cash is found justified, the verification will be closed without any need to visit the I-T office. The verification will also be closed, if the cash deposit is declared under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY),” the CBDT noted.

PMGKY -- also known as the Income Declaration Scheme-II -- is the last chance to come clean for black money hoarders. The scheme came into effect on December 17, 2016, and will be kept open till March 31.

According to sources, the tax department has detected deposits worth Rs 4.17 lakh crore of tax-evaded income during the 50-day deposit window after the government scrapped old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. The department is anticipating over Rs 1.5 lakh crore disclosures under the ongoing declaration scheme.

Chandra, meanwhile, said the intention of the scheme was to avoid any harassment to the taxpayer, online verification was sufficient and taxpayers needn’t visit the I-T office.

THE GREAT CASH CLEAN-UP

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The tax department has compiled data from banks, which have provided statements of financial transactions, detailing cash deposits between November 10 and December 30, 2016, along with figures of deposits in similar accounts for the period April 1-November 8, 2016

Banks were asked to file the details before January 31

Data show that there were over 10 million accounts, where cash of over ~2 lakh had been deposited and involved unique PAN of seven million people