Congress accuses BJP of unleashing ‘tax terrorism’
Congress’s charge of ‘tax terrorism’ shows its frustration... all tax authorities as well as Delhi HC have rejected party’s arguments, says BJP, adding that the IT dept. had found unaccounted for cash transactions and unfiled returns by the Congress, dur
Accusing the Union government of resorting to “tax terrorism” against the principal Opposition party to deny a level playing field in the Lok Sabha election, the Congress on Friday said the Income Tax (IT) department has made a fresh demand of ₹1,823.08 crore from the party.
Addressing a press conference along with general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh, party treasurer Ajay Maken said an analysis of the donations received by the BJP — posted on the Election Commission (EC) website — reveals “serious violations” that should attract a penalty of ₹4,600 crore.
The party said it arrived at this figure of ₹4,600 crore by using the same rate of penalty and interest that the IT department used to penalise it for a cash deposit of ₹14 lakh by its MPs and MLAs in 2019.
Mr. Maken said political parties have to fill up a proforma of Form 24A, in which two basic and important pieces of information have to be furnished — the names and addresses of their donors.
However, there were over 1,400 entries of donors that didn’t have an address, and these totalled a donation of over ₹42 crore.
“I will soon file a public interest litigation petition to recover ₹4,600 crore from the BJP for its violations in the past seven years,” he said, adding, “We have analysed all the submissions of the BJP to the Election Commission . The party has faltered every year.”
Mr. Maken said that they had moved the Supreme Court and the case relating to the ongoing tax dispute has been listed for hearing on April 1. Asked about the United States government taking note of Congress’s financial troubles, Mr. Maken said “this is an internal matter and the Constitution empowers us to take on the BJP”.
Rahul’s warning
Taking to social media platform ◣, senior party leader Rahul Gandhi warned that when the government changes, there would be strict action against all those who assaulted democracy. Party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal asked the State and District units of the Congress to organise massive protests across the country on Saturday against “the blatant murder of democracy”.
The High Court in its decision admitted that the department had sufficient and solid evidence for further probe under the IT Act SYED ZAFAR ISLAM BJP spokesperson
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said the Congress’s accusations that the Modi government was indulging in “tax terrorism” — after that party received multiple notices from the Income Tax Department — “reveals its frustration”.
Addressing a press conference at the BJP’s national headquarters, party spokesperson Syed Zafar Islam said the Congress had “failed to follow the correct procedures for filing taxes or making appeals”.
Mr. Islam said authorities, ranging from the Commissioner of Income Tax to the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal and even the Delhi High Court, “have upheld the actions of the Income Tax Department while dismissing the Congress’s arguments”.
“Instead of engaging in media rhetoric, the Congress should adhere to legal processes and fulfil its tax obligations,” Mr. Islam said.
The Congress often invoked “threats to democracy” when faced with allegations of fraud, the BJP said.
Fresh demands
Senior Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Ajay Maken had held a press conference earlier accusing the BJPled government of “unleashing tax terrorism” after the IT department made fresh demands amounting to ₹1,823 crore from the party.
Mr. Islam added that it was mandatory for any registered political party to file returns every year under the Income Tax Act section 13(A).
“However, the Congress has violated that condition and also misrepresented the income,” he said.
He also pointed out that the IT department had found unaccounted for cash transactions and unfiled tax returns by the Congress as well as unreported income, during its investigation based on seized documents. Consequently, the department issued recovery notices to the Congress, he said.
‘Party ignored notices’
The Congress had at first “ignored” notices from the IT department, Mr. Islam said, and later appealed to the Commissioner of Income Tax, but its arguments had been rejected. Subsequently, the party had approached the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), where the Congress did not get relief. It then took the matter to the Delhi High Court on March 13, 2024, where too the Congress’s petition against recovery proceedings was dismissed.
Mr. Islam mentioned that during the investigation, the department found that the Congress had violated the law in many financial years.
“The Congress again approached the Delhi High Court to quash the reassessment proceedings under Section 153C for all seven years from 2014 to 2021, which was rejected by the High Court. The High Court in its decision admitted that the department had sufficient and solid evidence for further investigation under the Income Tax Act. The High Court found that income worth hundreds of crores of rupees has been hidden,” he said.