Based upon vast amount of
information of cash deposits collected and analysed by CBDT, a number of
persons have been identified in whose case the cash transactions did not appear
to be in line with their profile available with the Income-tax Department
(‘ITO’) .
In such cases, it has been
decided to undertake on -line verification of select transactions through
jurisdictional Assessing Officers (‘AOs’).
on -line verification on
e-filing portals
Ø
CBDT has sent communication/information to selected persons for
submission of further information supporting to cash transactions during demonization
on e-filing portal.
·
PAN holder/taxapayer: can view the information using the link ‘Cash Transaction 2016’ under ‘compliance’
section at the portal https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.
·
Persons under verification who are not registered under e-filing
portal : Email and SMS sent to such persons for submitting online response.
Such persons should register immediately by clicking on ‘Register Yourself
link.
Ø
CBDT has issued the user guide and FAQ’s.
Ø
Additional information : The
AO will monitor the responses of each record and if required can ask for
additional information which will be communicated to taxpayer through email and
SMS. The time limit of five days will be
desirable to adhere by AO in case of additional information required. The
information request will be visible to the person under verification with a
hyperlink for uploading information. All the additional documents (including
supporting evidence) are required to be submitted online.
Ø
Conducting verification : Online verification relates to
preliminary verification of information only and the same should not be construed
s conducting scrutiny or in-depth authentication .
·
The online verification should be focussed and limited to the issue
under verification the outcome of which is either ‘Acceptable’ or
‘Non-Acceptable’. The queries raised should be relevant and limited in number
since this is a preliminary verification process only .
·
The Assessing Officer is required to verify each information record
individually and take a decision about each record being ‘Acceptable’ (where
the nature and source of cash deposit for that particular record is explained
by the person under verification to the prima-facie satisfaction of the
Assessing Officer) or ‘Non-Acceptable’ (where the Assessing Officer is not
satisfied with the explanations offered by the person under verification based on the information available) . For
each ‘Non-Acceptable’ information record,
the undisclosed income will have to be ascertained and recorded along
with verification remarks on the portal [the format has been reproduced in the
Verification Guide] .
·
It is reiterated that no independent enquiry or third party
verifications are required to be made by the Assessing Officer outside the
online.Whatever information is necessary during verification, the same has to
be collected through the person under verification using online platform only.
Even telephonic queries are to be avoided.
·
The verification of a particular case shall be complete only when:
(a) each information record reflected in that case gets verified
and has been marked either as ‘Acceptable’ or ‘Non-Acceptable’ (with mentioning
of undisclosed income in the latter category); and
(b) Approval has been given by the supervisory authority as
prescribed at Para 7 of this instruction
·
The cases under the ‘Non Acceptable’ category would get escalated
back to the Directorate of Systems and may lead to advance processing of such
cases for further handling as cases involving possible tax evasion.
·
In case the person under verification does not respond within the
time frame prescribed, it might lead to a possible inference that the cash
deposit under verification is prima-facie undisclosed and consequently the AO
may treat these cases under the ‘Non Acceptable’ category with relevant .
Ø
APPROVAL FROM HIGHER AUTHORITIES :
If the total value
of transactions is below Rs. 10 lakh (Rs.25 Lakh in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata,
Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad), the prescribed approving
authority will be Additional/Joint CIT heading the For cases where the total
value of transactions in a particular case exceeds the above limits, the
prescribed approving authority will be the Pr. CIT concerned.
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DEALING WITH NON-COMPLIANCE
In cases where
online response has not been submitted even after service of letter, the ITS
profile of such PAN holders may be viewed to access information reported in
earlier returns and under TDS/AIR/CIB. In case the cash deposit is not in line
with the earlier return or information profile of the person under
verification, necessary facts may be collected inter-alia by exercising the
powers under section 133(6) with the approval of prescribed authority. In
appropriate cases depending upon the online response or otherwise, survey action
u/s 133A can be considered. During survey, where there is suspicion of back
dating or fictitious cash transactions , CCTV recording of the cash counter at
relevant banks may also be checked, if necessary. Reference can also be sent to
the Investigation wing in appropriate cases.
In cases of
intrusive actions [133(6)/133A/ref. to lnv. Wing], the outcome needs to be
reported by the AO in the online portal also .
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INITIATION OF PENALTY PROCEEDINGS
UNDER SECTIONS 269SS/269T OF THE ACT
In case, the
transaction being loan received/repaid in cash above the permissible threshold
comes to notice, the AO may consider initiation of penal proceedings under the
relevant provisions separately.
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