I-T dept warns tax collectors against tax diversion

BHUBANESWAR: The income tax (I-T) department has asked all tax collectors in the state to deposit their collections into the Centre's account at the earliest, or face prosecution or penalty. "It has come to our notice that the tax deducted from employees is being diverted. This is illegal," said an officer of the department.
I-T department sources said the department had conducted surveys, especially on steel companies, contractors and real estate companies, and found evidence of tax diversion.

"Not only are some collectors delaying the deposit of the tax deducted, they are not filing quarterly returns to avoid detection. The defaulters may get seven years of rigorous imprisonment," the officer added.

The department also said 137 tax payers had deposited more than Rs one crore in their accounts during demonetisation, while 3,593 had deposited more than Rs 20 lakh. "If these tax payers are thinking that the I-T department will not get to know about their actions, they are mistaken, the officer added.