Following the Congress receiving a fresh notice from the Income Tax department worth Rs 1,700 crore over discrepancies in tax returns for previous years, the party accused the BJP of engaging in ‘tax terrorism’ to cripple Opposition parties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
“The BJP is engaged in tax terrorism and efforts are being made to financially cripple the Congress,” Congress’s Jairam Ramesh said during a press conference on Friday.
Addressing the media, senior party leader Ajay Maken accused the BJP of being in serious violation of tax laws. “The I-T department should raise the demand of over Rs 4,600 crore from it,” he added.
The Income Tax department, earlier this week, had served a fresh notice of Rs 1,700 crore to the Congress for discrepancies in tax returns for previous years, the Times of India reported. The tax penalties, along with interest, relate to discrepancies in tax returns for years 2017-18 to 2020-21.
This comes after the I-T department’s notice for “unaccounted transactions” totalling Rs 523.87 crore covering the period 2014-2021. This dealt a blow to the party, which only recently saw the I-T department withdrawing Rs 135 crore from its bank accounts for previous dues. The “unaccounted transactions” of Rs 523.87 crore were traced during I-T raids conducted prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In March, the Congress party lost its appeal before the Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) where it had sought a stay on withdrawal of Rs 135 crore from its bank accounts. On March 22, it also lost in the Delhi High Court a challenge to the search operations conducted by the I-T department. The party had argued that these were “time-barred” and a “delayed action”.