The Income Tax (IT) department is investigating high-value financial transactions worth around Rs 2,700 crore – mostly bank deposits, mutual fund investments and insurance premium above threshold limits.
The Income Tax (IT) department is investigating high-value financial transactions worth around Rs 2,700 crore – mostly bank deposits, mutual fund investments and insurance premium above threshold limits.
That is, if you have a minimum bank deposit of Rs 10 lakh, mutual fund investment of Rs 5 lakh and insurance premium of Rs 2 lakh and if you have not reported them in your I-T returns filing, you are in for trouble.
The transactions worth Rs 2,700 crore were reported in the department's Annual Information Return (AIR) for 2014-15.
According to this report, transactions worth around Rs 12,000 crore form part of the Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) 2014-15, which is under probe.
During the same period, the department's Cash Transaction Report (CTR) recorded Rs 6,000 crore. These transactions were traced to Mumbai and Delhi. Both cities are supposed to have the highest STR and CTR records.
In 2013-14, over 60,000 suspicious transactions worth Rs 8,000 crore were reported to the department.
To keep a watch on high-value transactions by tax payers, the I-T department has developed a statement of financial transactions called Annual Information Return (AIR).
On its basis, tax authorities will collect information on suspected high-value transactions during a year.
dna learns that the taxmen track high-value spenders through its electronic data mining tools and keeps track of each transaction till taxes are paid by the individual.
"The STRs reflect a trend of increasing money-laundering and tax evasion. We are matching STR and CTR with the PAN number of the respective individuals," a senior I-T official told dna.
"STRs are those financial transactions which give rise to a reasonable ground of suspicion that the transaction may involve proceeds of crime or were made in circumstances of unusual complexity," added officials.
"Failure to declare correct income and liability is now taken up on a priority basis and defaulters can be penalised up to 300% of the evaded tax and prosecution in a court of law can also be initiated," the official said.
Under I-T laws, institutions are required to report details of individual transactions above threshold limits.
All banks, mutual funds and companies issuing shares are required to submit their details. Besides, the office of the registrar, where sales and purchase transactions of immovable properties are registered, is also required to send details to the I-T department. Since these establishments have the investor's PAN and other details, there is virtually no way one can sneak past them without scrutiny.
"With technical solutions at the department's disposal, there is a lot of information that is readily available. We just want to send across a message to tax-evaders that the department would get to know every transaction, especially high-value ones," added officials.
Transactions that should be reported to the I-T dept
1. Cash deposits aggregating Rs 10 lakh or more in a year in savings accounts
2. Credit card payment of Rs 2 lakh or more during a financial year
3. Investments of Rs 2 lakh or more in mutual funds
4. Investments of Rs 5 lakh or more in bonds or debentures by a company or institution
5. Investments of Rs 1 lakh or more in company shares
6. Purchase or sale of immovable property worth Rs 30 lakh or more
7. Investments of Rs 5 lakh or more in RBI bonds in a year
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