Utility News Desk!! What if one day you suddenly get an income tax notice. Surely, you will also be left breathless. Although there can be many reasons behind the Income Tax Department issuing a notice, but nowadays many frauds related to this are also coming to light in the country where people’s PAN cards are being misused, after which a notice has been issued to them by the department.
Misuse of PAN of an elderly person
Recently, the PAN cards of a Mumbai housewife and an elderly man were misused, following which they had to file a case in the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), which revealed that the man had paid Rs 1.3 crore in 2010-11. He sold the property and showed it in his income. Whereas the man did not do anything like this.
Use of PAN in property registration
Not only this, when an illiterate and cancer patient woman did not respond to the income tax notice, her hearing was held before the ITAT. In the hearing, her lawyer said that her PAN has been misused in property registration. It was also said in the hearing that the income tax officer did not conduct an independent investigation like seeking details from the property registrar and the buyer.
Several incidents from different parts
This was not an isolated incident. There have been cases of PAN misuse across India so far – be it Usha Soni from Betul in Madhya Pradesh, who was issued an income tax notice of Rs 7.5 crore a decade after her death, or Nand Lal, a small shopkeeper in Rajasthan, who filed a police complaint after receiving an income tax notice of Rs 12.2 crore. Deceased persons, senior citizens, farmers and students are easy targets for PAN fraudsters.
What did the Central Board of Direct Taxes say?
Misuse of PAN by fraudsters can create many problems for you. The Central Board of Direct Taxes also says that everyone should avoid sharing their PAN card details in places where it is not mandatory as per government guidelines. You should also avoid entering PAN details in the public domain. Currently the PAN database is more than 70 crores. The process of linking PAN with Aadhaar was also started to prevent misuse of PAN. However, if you feel that your PAN card is being misused, you can lodge a complaint with the police.
When does the income tax notice come?
For information, let us tell you that under section 142 (1) of the Income Tax Act, this notice is issued to those who have not filed tax returns or details of long-term capital gain/loss on sale of any property, any bank interest received. In this case, a notice has been issued by the department.