FinMin to tighten the noose on big spenders as revenues falter
Rattled by subdued advance tax receipts, the finance ministry has signalled its intention to crack the whip on big-spending taxpayers.
The cash-strapped revenue department on Monday warned individual and corporate tax payers of strict action for allegedly understating “true income” and urged them to pay due taxes by December 15.
In an unusually stern warning, revenue secretary Sumit Bose said that the department has prepared a list of big-spending taxpayers and said that they were under watch.
Not disguising the ministry’s annoyance over the fact that only 14.6 lakh tax payers including individuals and companies have reported annual income above Rs 10 lakh in assessment year 2012-13, Bose said: “Any fair-minded person will agree that this is a gross under-statement.”
This low figure is despite the fact that about 4.6 lakh companies, 5 lakh non-corporate bodies such as partnerships and 68.6 lakh others including salaried individuals, Hindu Undivided Families and professionals had filed returns last fiscal. Assessees are supposed to pay annual tax liability by way of advance tax by specified dates. Individuals have to pay in three installments and companies in four. The third installment for corporates and the second for all others are due on December 15. Salaried employees usually do not pay advance tax as tax is deducted at source and they usually do not have other sources of income.
The redoubling of efforts by the revenue department comes at a time when the government is faced with serious slippages on the fiscal front, especially in the wake of the
