IT Department’s Shaming Tax Defaulters Campaign : News Paper Notice Issued On 18 Major Defaulters

31 March, New Delhi

With the curtains coming down on the current fiscal, the Income Tax department on Tuesday for the first time issued newspaper notices on 18 tax defaulters — 11 of them Gujarat-based — who collectively owe over Rs.500 crore to the exchequer.
The defaulters’ names were put up on the department’s website last week, while the newspaper notice, apart from being a novel way of shaming defaulters, would also help in tracing them.
In view of multiple cases of assessees not being traceable, which has reduced chances of recovery, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has provided the PAN number and the last-known address of these defaulters so that the public could give information about their whereabouts.
The list includes Somani Cement with tax arrears of Rs.27.47 crore; Blue Information Technology with Rs.75.11 crore in arrears; Appletech Solutions at Rs.27.07 crore; and Jupiter Business with Rs.21.31 crore.
The Gujarat-based companies in the list include Icon Bio Pharma and Healthcare Ltd., Banyan and Berry Alloys, Virag Dyeing and Printing, Poonam Industries and Kunvar Ajay Food — all with arrears ranging from Rs.15 crore to Rs.19 crore.
Other companies in the list include Jaipur-based Goldsukh Trade India (Rs.75.47 crore) and Kolkata-based Victor Credit and Construction (Rs.13.81 crore).