Taxmen soft on pensioners
Won’t further verify cash deposits upto 5L for people above 70 yrs
New Delhi, Feb. 22: The tax department will not carry out any further verification for cash deposits up to `5 lakh made by people above 70 years of age post note ban, but the limit has been fixed at `2.5 lakh for other individuals.
“There is absolutely no cause for panic. We are not going after everyone who deposited their holding of the demonetised currency in bank accounts between Nov. 8 and Dec. 30, 2016. Very clear thresholds have been set for tax department to take up deposits for verification. I repeat, it is for verification and not scrutiny or assessment,” a senior official said.
The official also said that these verifications are being sought to be done online and any person of up to 70 years of age, who has deposited more than `2.5 lakh in cash, has to go to I-T department website and explain the source of deposit.
If the deposits match with previous returns, the verification will be closed at that stage itself, he said adding only if a depositor does not verify, or there is suspicion on deposits not matching with known sources of income, will further clarifications be sought. “The threshold for further verification of cash deposits is `2.5 lakh for persons upto 70 years age, and `5 lakh for taxpayers above 70 years where the source of such deposits is household savings,” he said.