Income Tax News: A data-driven “nudge” campaign has been rolled out by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) for the 2025–26 assessment year. It urges Indian taxpayers to voluntarily review and rectify exemption and deduction claims that have been flagged as potentially ineligible via risk analytics. This includes potential cases associated with bogus donations that have been made to Registered Unrecognized Political Parties (RUPPs).
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The Income Tax News says identified taxpayers would be required as per the advisory initiative to file revised income tax returns (ITRs) by December 31, 2025. Taxpayers who fail to meet the deadline may still submit updated returns from January 1, 2026, though this will attract additional tax liability as allowed under the law.
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“The department has launched a data-driven NUDGE campaign for AY 2025–26 encouraging taxpayers to voluntarily review deduction claims identified as potentially ineligible through risk analytics,” the CBDT said in a statement.
The CBDT pointed out many instances where invalid or incorrect Permanent Account Numbers (PANs) were provided, along with discrepancies in the amount or nature of exemptions or deductions claimed.
It also said that several instances have been detected wherein taxpayers managed to secure ineligible refunds by claiming deductions or exemptions they were not eligible for, leading to an understatement of income.
The agency added it was able to identify AY26 cases involving claims such as bogus donations to RUPPs and other inadmissible deductions or exemptions, using its risk management framework and advanced data analytics.
The CBDT announced that identified taxpayers are being reached via email and SMS under the “Non-intrusive Usage of Data to Guide and Enable (NUDGE)” campaign.
The Income Tax Department encouraged identified taxpayers to rectify such discrepancies ahead of the December 31 deadline for filing revised returns.
The board also added that there is absolutely no need for taxpayers whose deduction or exemption claims are genuine and correctly made in accordance with the law to take any further action.
