New Delhi: The Congress party has been dealt a significant blow ahead of the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, as the Income Tax department has issued a notice of over Rs 1,800 crore for alleged tax return discrepancies in previous years.
The notice, which includes penalties and interest for the assessment years from 2017-18 to 2020-21, comes shortly after the Delhi High Court dismissed petitions by the Congress party challenging the initiation of tax reassessment proceedings for a four-year period.
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge expressed concern over the matter, stating, “IT (Income Tax department) has now given a notice of a total of Rs 1,823 Cr to the Congress party. They have already withdrawn Rs 135 Cr from Congress party’s accounts, which is a fund collected by us through crowdsourcing.”
Kharge highlighted the disparity, noting that while the I-T department has targeted the Congress party, the ruling BJP has been spared. He pointed out that public information from the Election Commission indicates that 1297 people deposited ₹42 Cr to the BJP in 2017-18 without providing their names and addresses.
Kharge questioned the selective enforcement, stating, “Rs 4,600 Cr penalty overlooked for BJP’s Rs 42 Cr unaccounted deposit, while Rs 135 Cr penalty is demanded for Congress’ for Rs 14 lakh cash deposits by MLAs & MPs!” He further raised concerns about the apparent bias, asking, “Who is pressurising the Income Tax Department to act in this unjustified manner only against the Opposition? Why is the IT department being allowed to be used as a weapon to harass the principal opposition party – Congress!
Though, the Income Tax department also issued a notice to The Communist Party of India (CPI) asking it to pay “dues” of Rs 11 crore for using an old PAN card while filing
tax returns during the last few years.