The Income Tax Department initiated a large-scale verification operation across multiple locations in the country today, targeting individuals and entities facilitating fraudulent claims of deductions and exemptions in Income Tax Returns (ITRs). This action follows a detailed analysis of the misuse of tax benefits under the Income-tax Act, 1961, often in collusion with professional intermediaries.
Investigations have uncovered organised rackets operated by certain ITR preparers and intermediaries, who have been filing returns claiming fictitious deductions and exemptions. These fraudulent filings involve the abuse of beneficial provisions, with some even submitting false TDS returns to claim excessive refunds.
To identify suspicious patterns, the IT Department has leveraged financial data received from third-party sources, ground-level intelligence, and advanced artificial intelligence tools. These findings are further substantiated by recent search and seizure operations conducted in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Gujarat, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh, where evidence of fraudulent claims was found to have been used by various groups and entities.
The IT Department is now poised to take stern action against continued fraudulent claims, including penalties and prosecution wherever applicable. The ongoing verification exercise across 150 premises is expected to yield crucial evidence, including digital records, that will aid in dismantling the networks behind these schemes and ensure accountability under the law.
Further investigations are currently underway. Taxpayers are again advised to file correct particulars of their income and communication coordinates and not be influenced by advice from unauthorised agents or intermediaries promising undue refunds.