The Income Tax Department on Tuesday warned that those collecting tax deducted at source but not depositing it could face rigorous imprisonment up to seven years. A CBDT statement said the TDS units of the department had been taking up prosecution proceedings in suitable cases where TDS had been retained beyond the due date.
The warning comes when the government's fiscal deficit touched 48 per cent of the Budget estimate over just three months of the financial year.
Its tax receipts at about Rs 1 lakh crore in the first quarter of 2013-14 were just 11.5 per cent of the Budget estimate against 13.6 per cent in the corresponding period of 2012-13.
