Hyderabad: Income-tax officers are tightening the noose around the cab driver who deposited Rs 7 crore in demonetised currency after November 8.
Since the driver agreed to pay tax under the Pradhan Mantri Gharib Kalyan Yojana, the new black money disclosure scheme, the I-T department sent him a notice seeking to deposit the Rs 3.5 crore in taxes and a Reserve Bank of India bond worth Rs 1.75 crore (25 per cent) as per the scheme.
When officials grilled him in December, the taxi driver confidently told them that he would pay the tax as stipulated under PMGKY and asked for a week’s time to do so. When he failed to pay up, investigating officers grilled him again. He claimed that he had lost everything.
An I-T official said that the taxi driver had bought gold soon after depositing the Rs 7 crore, through an online transfer. The bullion trader sold him gold at Rs 40,000 per tola against the actual cost of Rs 30,000 on that day.
“He procured gold worth Rs 4.9 crore by spending Rs 7 crore. When he tried to sell the gold, he got a lower price for it. He claimed that he would have only Rs 4 crore left after selling the gold and has requested that the I-T be imposed on the Rs 4 crore and not Rs 7 crore, which is not possible as per the PMGKY,” the official said.
If he fails to pay the tax and procures the bond, we will take action as per the I-T Act. Under the PMGKY, he should pay Rs 5.25 crore in tax and RBI bond, he added.
The official said that as PMGKY allows black money holders to convert their money into white, the department would not seek any information about the source of income.
“Till March 31, he will have a chance to pay the tax. If he fails, we will seek information on the source of income. The man appears to be confident on the tax payments,” the official said.
