Record number of searches in FY22 as tax offences get money laundering tint

With three months still to go for the year to end, total 'undisclosed income' is about Rs 32,000 cr, far eclipsing the FY19 level of Rs 18,600 cr

The Central Board of Direct Tax (CBDT) has set a record for search operations against “undisclosed income” in FY22. With three months left until the end of the fiscal year, the total “undisclosed income” as per publicly available data is about Rs32,000 crore, far eclipsing the level set in FY19, when it was just under Rs18,600 crore.

Read it along with the expanded “predicate offences” powers of its brother department, the Enforcement Directorate (ED). The figures reflect the expanded powers the tax department has amassed in a relatively

short period.

It began with the Finance Act of 2015, when the government brought in