Shoma Patnaik | NT
Principal Correspondent
PANAJI
Going by the feedback to the ongoing Income Declaration Scheme (IDS), Goa’s tax evaders are responding halfheartedly to the government’s olive branch of black money declaration. The scheme ends on midnight of Friday, September 30 and it looks modest in bringing in big money to the income tax department.
Speaking to this newspaper, Alka Tyagi, principal commissioner of Income Tax, Panaji, said that the response to the central scheme is satisfactory but “not to the extent of data collected on the number of tax evaders in the state.”
“We were expecting to get even more people in the tax net through the scheme considering the data collected by us,” Tyagi said on Wednesday. The department will crack down on people with undeclared wealth as soon as the scheme ends, she added.
The number of Goa’s tax assesses can effortlessly increase, according to the income tax department. The state had recorded filing of 55,867 returns as on March 31, 2016 but the number could easily increase by 40 per cent if more people turn tax payers, pointed out the principal commissioner.
People who have responded to the IDS are from across trades which include jewellers, shopkeepers, transporters, depositors in co-operative banks and urban co-operative credit societies. The department through property transaction records from the sub-registrar’s office, banks and other sources, has made a list of tax evaders and sent out notices to them. It is especially targeting NBFCs, co-operative societies and co-operative banks where depositors have no tax history despite having high-value deposits.
The four-month pan-India campaign aimed at ferreting out black money was launched on June 1, 2016 and ends on September 30. Tyagi said that in Goa interest in the scheme started from September onwards and there are people coming forward as the date for closure approaches. “Around 15 individuals are coming for enquiries daily,” she said.
Goa’s tax evaders comprise people who have not declared their full income and also people who are totally out of the tax bracket. The state’s income tax collections hovered in the range of Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,500 crore when the economy was shining due to the mining boom. But post mining closure collections crashed by over 50 per cent. In 2015-16 income tax collection was about Rs 1,200 crore. Current year looks better than the previous year, said officials as the economy is reviving.
The punishment for not disclosing hidden income once the IDS ends will be severe. Evaders who are caught will have to pay 100 per cent tax, 300 per cent penalty and face prosecution. Evaders could very well have their principal wiped off once they are caught, said Tyagi.