Operation Clean Money to get another extension for clearing tax assessment cases

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) is likely to extend the deadline for disposal of assessment cases under Operation Clean Money (OCM) which leverages data analytics to investigate tax evaders, a senior official said on Saturday.

The original deadline was July which was first extended to September 30 and then to December 31. The official said more than 23 lakh cases were identified for e-verification in two phases of OCM. With such a heavy workload, the December 31 deadline too will most likely be extended.

These are cases identified during the period of demonetisation announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8, 2016.

The first phase of OCM was launched between February 2017 to April 2017 under which the Income Tax Department identified 17.92 lakh cases for verification.

In the second phase which started in May 2017, 5.6 lakh new cases were identified. These were the cases where cash transactions did not appear in line with their tax-paying profile.

CBDT sources said despite efforts and set deadlines, the department has not been able to dispose of OCM cases -- mainly due to non-compliance by taxpayers to notices and delays in getting relevant information from banks where huge cash was deposited during the demonetisation exercise.

PK Gupta, Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Department heading Uttar Pradesh (West) and Uttarakhand region, stated at a recent outreach programme that out of 3,900 OCM cases, more than 1,500 cases were disposed of by mid-October.

The CBDT believes that the OCM will help eliminate black money and widen the tax base.

-ANI

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