Operation Clean Money brings 6.6 lakh more people under IT scanner

The Income Tax Department (ITD) has used information received under the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) to identify 5.56 lakh new persons with high cash deposits in the second phase of `Operation Clean Money' (OCM).

The tax profiles of these persons were found to be inconsistent with the cash deposits made by them during the demonetisation period, according to a finance ministry release.

The I-T department also identified another 1.04 lakh persons who did not disclose all bank accounts during e-verification in the first phase of OCM, which takes the total number of possible tax-evaders to 6.6 lakh.

In the first phase of OCM, 1.79 million persons had been identified for e-verification of large cash deposits, of which 9.72 lakh people had submitted online response.

In the second phase, all identified persons are being informed, through e-mail and SMS, to submit their response online. The I-T department had earlier said it will investigate over 60,000 individuals, including 1,300 high risk persons.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the policy-making body of the department, had then said it has detected an undisclosed income of over Rs9,334 crore between 9 November 2016 and 28 February 2017.

The information about the cases and accounts identified has been made available in the e-filing window of the PAN holder in the e-filing portal of the I-T department https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in. The PAN holder can view the information using the link 'Cash Transactions 2016' under 'Compliance' section of the portal

The taxpayer will be able to submit online explanation without any need to visit income tax office.