IT Watchdogs Set ? AIR ? Trap For Big Spenders
It happened to Amitabh Bachchan and will happen to anyone making an expensive purchase.
Armed with what are being called ? Annual information reports ? the income tax department is scrutinizing every expensive purchase and a computer-generated notice is being send to any one making such a purchase.
That was how Amitabh bachchan got a notice for the pair expensive sunglasses that had been purchased, even though he was unwell when the notice arrived leading to a controversy on the timing.
I T men have stopped showing up at weddings or functions where lavish spending happens but are probing such ostentatious affairs only after the functions ? That is because we do not want to spoil the atmosphere during an auspicious occasion or even cause any inconvenience during a time when the person is unwell ? a senior official of IT department said.
While the IT department will get reports about every sale and purchase of an expensive article, a recent phenomenon that has been noticed, especially in all the metros, is that while filing income tax returns a number of people are quoting the wrong pan number.
?There have been several cases in Delhi and we have detected this even in Hyderabad? Muntasir Ahmed, Director General, Income Tax, Investigation, Hyderabad told TOI. Even though some people are willing to readily declare the ?expensive purchase? they have made in their IT returns, they are quoting the wrong PAN number. That is because, the IT department will then question them about the source of their income which is not reflected in the IT returns.
Some others do not even quote the PAN number though it is mandatory on the IT returns form.
The IT department then tries to trace out the individuals through their address but even this could be wrong.
Faced with such a situation, the department has now started using a software which enables the department to trace out the individual even if he has quoted a wrong PAN number.
Source: Times of India 26th August 2006
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