I-T department fails to recover dues, writes off huge arrears

Apparently failing to recover massive tax dues from various corporate taxpayers in the country, the Income Tax Department (ITD) has now started "writing off" thousands of crores of tax arrears by such defaulters, according to RTI replies. This, despite the fact that the department is sitting on a pile of Rs 50,000 crore of tax arrears all over India, according to available figures, with the highest — Rs 33,157.97 crore — due in Pune, Maharashtra, alone. The revelation has come from several replies given by I-T offices under various principal chief commissionerates of Income Tax (PR-CCIT) to RTI activist Chandra Shekhar Gaur, based in Neemuch, Madhya Pradesh. When contacted, a top official of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), New Delhi, admitted that there were certain provisions by which tax dues may be written off in certain cases. "However, the tax-payers' liability does not get extinguished even if it is written off for the time being. When we learn that the party's financial situation has changed, we immediately initiate recovery proceedings as per law," the CBDT official, who requested anonymity, said. The official said the procedure (to write-off) was very longwinded, time-consuming and goes through various levels, depending on the amount and required clearances from different authorities. At least two PRCCITs — Hyderabad and Pune — having huge tax arrears, have admitted to 'write-offs' of unpaid taxes, Gaur said.