Income Tax dept sends 13 lakh messages under 'Operation Clean Money'

Income tax department (ITD) on Thursday announced its action plan against people who have made 'suspicious' cash deposits following the Narendra Modi-led government's move to demonetise Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes.

Under the "Operation Clean Money" which was launched on Tuesday, ITD had sent 13 lakh messages through mail and SMSes, giving the defaulters a deadline of 10 days to explain about their source of fund.

As per the ITD, if the defaulters neglect the messages, then they will be sent notices for further action.

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) Chairman, Sushil Chandra in an interview to ANI said that the defaulters will be sent more messages soon.

Further he said that during the course of investigation, the department had identified more than 4.17 lakh crore suspicious deposits by over 18 lakh assesses during November 9 to 31st of December.

"Over 18 lakh account holders under the IT Dept's scanner include those who deposited over Rs. five lakh. Data analytics has been used for comparing the demonetisation data with information in ITD databases," added Sushil Chandra.

In the first batch, around 18 lakh persons were identified in whose case, cash transactions do not appear to be in line with the tax payer's profile.

ITD has enabled online verification of these transactions to reduce compliance cost for the taxpayers while optimizing its resources.

The response of taxpayer 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 Income Tax Office.

The verification will also be closed if the cash deposit is declared under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY).