GUWAHATI, March 22 - The Income Tax (IT) department has slapped showcause notices to over 300 high net-worth individuals in the Northeast who had stashed more than Rs 1 crore cash each into their respective bank accounts post demonetization.
Sources informed that post-demonetization, the IT department has come across 575 cases of deposits of Rs 1 crore or more of which only 110 of them have complied to the income tax norms.
�We have filed showcause notices to over 300 high net-worth individuals who have not complied with the income tax norms. These individuals are under the scanner,� sources told this reporter.
Sources stated that there were a total of over 12,000 cases where individuals have deposited large amounts of cash in the bank accounts, the threshold amount being Rs 10 lakh. �Of these over 12,000 cases, around 2,700 have complied with the income tax norms,� sources revealed.
The department, through a centralized computerized system, has also identified around three lakh people who had refrained from filing income tax returns despite falling under tax bracket.
Further, more than 120 prosecutions have been filed in the courts of the Northeast against persons for various offences, including for default in payment and collection of TDS, concealment of income and non-furnishing or late furnishing of income tax.
The Income Tax department divulged that the direct tax collection as on date for the current financial year has been Rs 6,500 crore against the target of Rs 7,100 crore.
�The gap of Rs 600 crore is expected to be plugged till the end of the financial year by way of extensive drive,� a top Income Tax official said.
�The existing tax payer base is just around 6.54 lakh and the department is trying hard to further widen the base,� he said.
Sources added that IT department sleuths have recovered Rs 10 crore cash during its seizure in 2017-18, while an amount of Rs 500 crore were voluntarily declared by tax evaders.
The amount of seizure in the preceding year stood at Rs 25 crore and the cash voluntarily declared was Rs 450 crore.
