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The Income-Tax Department has found 89 cases of "high-risk foreign remittances." It is believed that each of these cases involved the evadsion of more than Rs 100 crore in taxes, according to a report published in The Economic Times (ET).
These cases are associated with high-value remittances in FY20 and FY21, people aware of the matter said. The department has already begun proceedings in these cases. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), the top direct tax body, had directed the officers concerned to initiate verification and send notices to those behind these transactions on March 28, the report said.
Quoting one of the officials of the I-T Department, ET reported, "The data analytics suggested that there are 89 cases where suspected evasion is above Rs 100 crore and another 31 cases where suspected evasion is above Rs 50 crore."
Elaborating on the irregularities, the official said that the income declared in these cases was not consistent with the money sent abroad. Moreover, the tax returns did not reflect these high-value overseas transfers, the report added.
The I-T Department believes that the actual numbers could be higher as the department has identified a significantly higher number of irregularities in Form 15CC for FY20 and FY21, according to the report.
According to applicable rules, 5 per cent tax collected at source (TCS) is levied on outward remittances amounting to more than Rs 7 lakh. This is done to prevent any efforts at tax evasion.
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The tax official was quoted as saying in the report, "Technology and data analytics are helping us in detecting evasions and helping us to plug any loopholes and improve tax compliance."
The Budget for FY23–24 proposed that any outward remittances would incur 20 per cent TCS on the entire value effective July. Only remittances sent for medical treatment and education will be out of scope for the latest rules, the report said.
