The government is waiting, it seems, for the four-month amnesty scheme for tax defaulters to end on 30 September to crack the whip on those who did not come clean during the one-time offer.
The Income Declaration Scheme (IDS) 2016 gives a chance to people with undisclosed income to declare their concealed earnings by paying tax, penalty and surcharge of 45 percent of fair market value. The government has repeatedly said the deadline won't be extended beyond 30 September midnight.
"We have lots of information from various sources...It would be put to use," a senior Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) official was quoted as saying by the Economic Times. "We are now able to use even data sans the non-permanent account numbers (PAN)."
Income tax officials have been doing a lot of data-mining to detect undisclosed income and tax evasion using a range of tools, making it difficult for defaulters to escape the tax net.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had snubbed India Inc., a section of which had sought more favourable terms to encourage defaulters.
"There are many in the business community who are asking to make IDS more attractive. But this is not a seasonal sale," he said at a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) event in July, reported IANS.
"The capability of the tax department to detect tax evasion has improved because of enhanced access to information and availability of technology-driven analytical tools to process such information. I want to give an opportunity to the earlier noncompliant to move to the category of compliant," he had said during his budget speech.
The government also said that once the IDS 2016 ends on 30 September, a detailed statement will be made on the response to the scheme.
"The CBDT has so far refrained from issuing any statement regarding number of declarations received, amounts declared or taxes paid under the Scheme in order to ensure complete confidentiality. A formal and confirmed press release on the above aspects will be issued from the CBDT after the Scheme closes on 30th September, 2016," the finance ministry said in a statement a few days ago.
