Issue of tax notices has become predictable: Nirmala Sitharaman

livemint.com:

New Delhi: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday that issue of tax notices and re-opening of past assessments in the case of high income earners where the department has information about their non-compliance, has become predictable and that there is no fishing expedition.   Speaking at an event held to mark the 164th Income Tax day in the capital, the minister said that the Modi administration has brought more certainty to tax payers. The minister cited the example of rationalising the period during which a re-assessment can be done in certain cases where the department has information about understatement of income.   The minister also said that now tax payers need not worry about maintaining his records for ten long years as earlier.   “Now no tax assessee is going to face the situation of reopening his assessment after six years.

And even in the fourth, fifth and sixth years, they reopen cases only under certain circumstances," the minister said.  That covers cases where the person has income more than ₹five million and the tax department has evidence of understatement of income, the minister explained.  Sitharaman also said that such reopening will be done only with the permission of a high ranking official.  The minister explained that based on the applicable parameters, notices have been issued to assessees, where the department has reasons to believe income has been understated, or where return filing obligation has not been met.   Sitharaman said that if she remembered correctly, around 100,000 notices were sent. However, it is possible that, based on the responses filed by those who have received notices, the number of cases may already have fallen below 100,000, given that the process is dynamic.