Operation Clean Money: Govt launches website to expose tax offenders

Mumbai: The government has put its drive against black money hoarders and tax evaders on fast-track and launched a website to put online names of offenders, number of raids conducted, according to a report on NDTV.

Details of raids by income tax department will be put up on the website and government will rate defaulters from high to low risk. As part of its drive against black money, tax evasion and counterfeiting of Indian currency notes, the government started demonetisation drive on November 8 last year.

The notes recall decision sucked out over 86 per cent currency in circulation from the banking system and caused sever cash crunch in country as old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes were withdrawn overnight.

The website created by the Central Board of Direct Taxes will also reveal names of bank customers who deposited 'disproportionate' money into bank accounts during the 50-day long drive against black money.

"We want to change habit from non-tax compliant to tax compliant," NDTV quoted Sushil Chandra, chairman of CBDT as saying.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley inaugurated the portal dedicated to tax defaulters. "Post-demonetisation personal income tax return filing has gone up due to ownership of unanimous money being identified," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.

Jaitley went on to say that it was no longer safe to deal with excessive cash, tax evaded money. After the launch of the website, both taxpayers and tax authorities could easily communicate with each other through customers' permanent account number or PAN details.

"The department is looking to keep the process as non-intrusive as possible with an emphasis on e-assessment to keep human interaction to the minimum," a report in The Economic Times had earlier said.