Pursuing with its ‘name and shame’ policy, the income tax department published the names of 29 large defaulters on Saturday through advertisements in national news papers. Together, these defaulters owe Rs 448.02 crore to the I-T department. The dues include both income tax and corporate tax. 

The defaulters’ list consists of both individuals and companies. Among individuals, one Irfan Ahmed was shown as owing arrears to the tune of a Rs 257.44 crore to the government. In the ad, the I-T department made public the PAN number, last known address, amount of tax arrears and other details of the defaulters. 

While most assessees were listed as not traceable, some had no known assets that can be recovered, the ad noted. In the past, the department had named and shamed 67 tax defaulters. 

“We have been focusing on tax defaulters with huge arrears over the past one year and as a last resort, we have taken up naming and shaming of defaulters,” said a senior official with the tax department. He added that the idea behind naming and shaming is to make the people aware so that they can inform the department of information against the defaulters.

The official expressed the hope that by making public the names of large defaulters, the general public will know about the defaulters and may inform the I-T department and exercise caution while transacting with the defaulters. 

Asking the defaulters to pay tax arrears at once, the department’s ad also noted that the details of defaulters were specific to the tax arrears and assessment year mentioned. The tax defaulter’s address, business, shareholding and management may have changed. #casansaar (PTI - New India Express)