Income taxpayer base moved up substantially to 6.26 crore at the end of the last fiscal, from nearly 4 crore earlier, CBDT Chairman Sushil Chandra said today.
Clearing the air on disclosure of bank account details of non-resident Indians (NRIs), expats, as well as foreigners with investments in private equity in India, Chandra also said that such accounts need to be disclosed only when a refund is due to the assessee. The chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said that post demonetization the department has taken a host of measures to increase tax base and the statement of financial transaction (SFT) report filed by banks shows widening of taxpayer base.
“As on date, we have got 6.26 crore assessees. It is a myth that we have 3-4 crore… (These) assessees who have filed returns, paid advance tax or tax has been deducted at source. This is a large jump from earlier years,” he said speaking at the Income Tax Day celebrations here. The challenge before the taxmen now remains how to widen the tax net and officials are working towards it, he said. Chandra said that with the enactment of the amended Benami law, the tax officials have found out clusters and persons who have invested money in real estate without filing tax returns.
