CBDT directs tax sleuths to survey, inspect high value transactions

Banking companies, co-operative banks, trustees of mutual funds (MFs), post offices, registrars, and others who are mandated to file the statement of financial transaction (SFT) report on high-value transactions have come under the income-tax department’s (I-T) scanner. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has directed tax sleuths to conduct quarterly ‘survey and inspection’ of these entities to determine the correctness of the statement filed by them.

To track high-value cash transactions, the centre had in January 2017 put out a new rule wherein it had mandated all goods and services providers to report to the I-T department high-value cash transactions and cash receipts.

Under the new norms, cash receipts, purchase of shares, MFs, immovable property, term deposits, sale of foreign currency, etc, will have to be reported to tax authorities in a prescribed format, according to the threshold limits.

This follows a 54-page action plan drawn up by the CBDT, where an aggressive strategy was outlined to nab tax dodgers. The CBDT had circulated a strategy paper for the tax officials and laid special emphasis on a number of critical areas such as litigation management, widening the tax base, verification of non-permanent account number (PAN) data, and the processing of the foreign account tax compliance act (FATCA) data.

The CBDT has now asked tax sleuths to prepare a master list of persons who were required to submit the SFT of financial year 2017-18 by June 30. “Access to credible and processed information is vital for the efficient functioning of the (I-T) department. It is, therefore, essential that complete and correct filing of the SFTs be ensured,” the CBDT noted. Sources say the tax authority has observed several discrepancies in the high-value transaction reporting during demonetisation. #casansaar (Source - Business Standard)