Income Tax department to reward people who provide credible inputs against declared defaulters

New Delhi: In its fight against black money, the income tax department has come out with new guidelines to award people giving information about “untraceable” assesses who owe huge taxes and money. As per the new guidelines, any person who provides credible inputs against a declared defaulter would be rewarded 10 per cent of the tax realised from such an entity.

The maximum amount which could be given to an informer has been capped at Rs 15 lakh. However, a provision has also been kept to enhance this reward in exceptional cases after the approval of the Central Board of Direct Taxes, the apex policy-making body of the tax department.

The informant, whose identity would be kept secret except in cases where the law requires, will have to give inputs “supported by facts and documents”. The department will ensure the secrecy of the informer’s identity by allotting him or her a unique number to communicate with them.

However, no “speculation, vague or inputs of general nature and educated guess” will be eligible for the reward scheme. This new programme will cover any information about persons who are either not traceable or have stated inadequate assets while declaring their income tax returns. The scheme has been brought out after high-level deliberations in the government, including with the special investigation team on black money.

For the first time, the guidelines state that any default of tax deducted at source (TDS) or self-assessment tax by an entity for over six months and about which the IT department has publicly declared the default, will be covered under the scheme for “informers” or people in the know to inform the taxman about.