Income Tax News: The Income Tax Department is going to launch an enforcement campaign against those people and organisations who are supposed to file income tax returns (ITRs) but haven’t. According to Economic Times, the I-T department has identified 1.52 crore people who have income or have had tax withheld at source (TDS) but have not filed their forms.
CBDT’s Directive to Field Formations
The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has requested that field formations get in touch with these defaulters starting on 15 April, according to the article. According to a source who spoke with the website, there were around 8.9 crore taxpayers in the fiscal year 2022–2023, but only 7.4 crore returns were filed. The official said that the updated returns are included in the total number of returns.
Large-Scale Non-Compliance
Consequently, it is possible that 1.97 crore people failed to file an ITR even if they had tax withheld at the source. 1.93 crore of the people who failed to file their returns fell into the person category, 28,000 fell into the Hindu undivided family category, and 1.21 lakh fell into the firm category. The other people were classified into various other groups.
The report further stated that the official stated that there were times when the amount of bank transactions associated with the PAN was so large that it was necessary to file an ITR. It has been requested that field officials get in touch with these people, provide them with accurate information, and clarify to them the necessity of filing their ITRs.
Crackdown on Deliberate Defaulters
According to data from the CBDT, tax letters are being sent to roughly 8,000–9,000 potential taxpayers against whom the government has records of large ticket purchases or large cash deposits.
If they are determined to be deliberate defaulters, they will be penalised. However, taxpayers who can legitimately explain their unexpected income may need to submit a return or provide an explanation.
Breakdown of Direct Tax Collection
The income tax administration is also relying on the vast quantity of data that it has obtained, which has aided in locating these non-filers and spotting any discrepancies. According to the CBDT last month, increased advance tax mop-up resulted in a 19.88% increase in net direct tax collection, reaching over ₹18.90 lakh crore by March 17.
It further stated that Corporation Tax (CIT) at ₹9,14,469 crore (net of refund) and Personal Income Tax (PIT), which includes Securities Transaction Tax (STT) at ₹9,72,224 crore (net of refund), accounted for ₹18,90,259 crore (as of March 17) in net direct tax collection.
