I-T Dept sends 8,000 notices to taxpayers who claimed exemption for charity

The Income-Tax Department has sent 8,000 notices to various individuals who made large donations to charitable trusts, The Economic Times (ET) reported. The notices have been sent because the donations made appear to be attempts to evade tax.

Government officials aware of the development were quoted in the report as saying that the data shows that donations made by these taxpayers was not consistent with their declared incomes and expenditures.

The people who have been served notices include salaried employees, self-employed individuals, and companies.

The government official said, “In all 8,000 odd cases, the donation was exactly the amount required to lower the tax slab or get a full exemption and was paid by cash.” He added, “Also, an exceptionally high amount was paid to tax professionals, even by a straight salaried person.”

The notices were sent during the last one month and were for the assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21. IT department is likely to send more notices, the ET report said.

Notices were also sent to small businesses which donated to charitable trusts as their incomes and donations did not add up.