Trouble for people depositing more than Rs. 15lakh during demonetization
What's the story
Indians who bank-deposited unaccounted cash over Rs. 15 lakh during demonetization are now under government scanner. In the last two months, the Income Tax department has issued notices to 1.98 lakh account-holders who haven't filed returns on the deposits they made in November 2016. Failure to respond to these notices can result in penalizing by the I-T department. Read on to know more.
Information
3,000 prosecution cases related to tax crimes registered since November
Since November, about 3,000 prosecution cases have been registered over various tax crimes including evasion, delayed filing and abetment, Sushil Chandra, Chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes told news agency ANI.
Going digital
You can now file and assess income tax online
Meanwhile, in sync with PM Narendra Modi's push for digital India, the I-T department has begun income tax e-assessment on a trial basis, allowing Indians to file and assess taxes online. This means you no longer need to visit the income tax office. According to Chandra, 60,000 e-assessments were done in three months, a number he expects to shoot tremendously in the future.
Aftermath
The number of debit/credit card swiping machines double post demonetization
Additionally, the number of point-of-sale (PoS) terminals - the debit/credit card swiping machines - in use doubled from 1.5 million to 3 million between November 2016 and November 2017, the first year post demonetization, reported The Hindu. According to the Reserve Bank of India, both the number and value of PoS transactions shot up considerably during this time.