New Delhi: Income tax department said on Thursday that it has changed strategy to now filing criminal cases against tax evaders against its early stand where it was concerned only about revenue augmentation. “In its crusade against black money and with a view to have credible deterrence against generation of black money, the government has shifted the focus to successfully prosecute the offenders in shortest possible time,” said the income tax department. During the current year 628 prosecution complaints have been filed upto December, 2014.
Some 56 of such prosecution complaints relate to offences concerning undisclosed foreign income. In 2014-15 (upto December 2014) income tax department conducted searches in 414 groups and seized undisclosed assets of Rs 582 crore. Undisclosed income of Rs 6,769 crore has been admitted by the tax payers during such searches.
"The undisclosed income detected as a result of further enquiries is however much more,” said the department. Besides, 1,174 surveys conducted upto November, 2014 led to detection of undisclosed income of '4,673 crore. Wilful attempt to evade tax is a serious offence punishable under Section 276C of the Income Tax Act, 1961 with imprisonment upto 7 years and fine.
Meanwhile, Special Investigation Team (SIT) on black money has approached ICIJ — a global collective of investigative journalists — to obtain the full data on Indians holding bank accounts in HSBC Geneva, which the group made public earlier this week under its ‘Swiss Leaks’ revelations. In another development CBDT has constituted a committee to redraft existing guidelines for undertaking write-off procedures in irrecoverable tax demand cases.
The five-member committee will be headed by a Chief Commissioner of Income Tax and has been asked by the board to submit it report and recommendations by March 31. The committee has been formed to make guidelines and rules in this context “simpler and easier to administer.”
