Suspicious tax refund claims under scanner

NEW DELHI: Suspicious income tax refund claims have gone up in last three years and scrutiny assessments have been initiated against taxpayers claiming high refunds inconsistent with the pattern of income and investments, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said there has been an increase in detection of suspicious refund claims.

The number of suspicious refund claims selected for scrutiny stood at 20,874 in 2018-19, 11,059 in 2017-18 and 9,856 in 2016-17. "Scrutiny assessments have been initiated against taxpayers claiming high refunds inconsistent with the pattern of income and investments. "Wherever after scrutiny the claim of refund was found to be inadmissible, the same was denied and consequential action of penalty and prosecution was taken based on the merits of the case," he said. The total amount of I-T refunds during 2018-19 (up to February 2, 2019) stood at Rs 1.43 lakh crore, 2017-18 (Rs 1.51 lakh crore), 2016-17 (Rs 1.62 lakh crore) and 2015-16 (Rs 1.22 lakh crore).