Self-employed beware: Taxman cometh

The Income Tax Department is watching you closely, especially if you are a self employed individual. According to a report published in the Business Standard today keeping cash more than Rs 50,000 with you may draw the attention of the taxman. In the new forms for income tax returns, the government may ask non-salaried individuals to declare in-hand cash of more than Rs 50,000.

In fact, with the new form, you could be required to provide more details than before. For instance, the department could ask for details of your art collection, land details, deposits, as well as details on the shares you own. In fact, apart from declaring all the assets, you would also be required to state the details about your liabilities.

[caption id=“attachment_684556” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The department could ask for details of your art collection, land details, deposits. Moneycontrol.com[/caption]

“Officials said this year, concealment of facts in the returns (to be notified soon), wouldn’t be easy, as the department would compare the details with the information provided to it by third-party sources,” the report said.

More from Business

Hyundai India’s Rs 27,870 crore IPO oversubscribed by 2.28X, largely driven by institutional investors How Indian fintech startups are driving Malaysia’s UPI-like digital payments revolution

In fact, as per another report published yesterday in the Business Standard, if your telephone/ mobile bill is higher than you what have submitted in income tax returns, or you’ve have multiple foreign trips (that is, a number of visa on your passports), the IT department is watching you. (Read here). Looks like the IT department is looking at a number of parameters to catch hold of you.

The IT department has identified around 1.2 million non-filers who had PAN number, and made high value transactions but did not file returns and sent them notices. “These letters have had a salutary effect. I’m inferring that our approach is paying dividend,” Finance Minister P Chidambaram, who is personally monitoring the revenue collections on almost a daily basis, was quoted as saying in the report.

Impact Shorts

More Shorts

Chennai Ranks #1 in Challan Checks: ACKO Insights for Smarter Car and Two Wheeler Insurance Decisions

Tata Harrier EV vs Mahindra XEV 9e: Design and road presence compared

What you should do: Looks like the IT department is serious about its business and as the Business Standard report said the department has a lot of information which can be used to catch tax evaders. We reckon, if you are a self employed person, do get in touch with your charted accountant and see that you have left no loose ends in your income tax inadvertently.