Namakkal: Among all the Indian states, Tamil Nadu and its neighbour, union territory of Puducherry, are among the major contributors to the country’s Income Tax (I-T) revenue kitty, and people of Namakkal district are among the highest tax payers in the state.
Indicating these facts while speaking at a function on Wednesday to inaugurate the new I-T office in Tiruchengode in Namakkal district, Sri B Muralikumar, chief principal commissioner of Income Tax, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, said that in the just concluded financial year (2018-19), of the Rs 11.30 lakh crore I-T revenue collections in the entire country, Rs 75,147 crore has been collected from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry alone.
Of the I-T collections in Tamil Nadu alone, just seven taluks of Namakkal district contributed Rs 330 crore to the central kitty, of which Rs 200 crore came from Tiruchengode and Kumarapalayam taluks alone, the official pointed out. There were about 44,000 I-T assesses in Namakkal district alone. In Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, 9.50 lakh new returns were filed last year, he underscored.
Warning against ‘fake inspectors’ masquerading as I-T officials and needlessly harassing innocent persons, Sri Muralikumar said any such suspicion or incident could be reported by members of the public to the toll free number, ‘18004256669’ immediately. He assured to take action against such fraudsters.
Sri Muralikumar clarified that not only during election times, but at all times, search and seizure operations, popularly known as ‘raids’, by the Income Tax authorities were undertaken only on the basis of information gleaned from bank transactions, and not just on the basis of complaints and tip-offs received. “All our actions are always within the purview of the Income Tax Act,” the high ranking official assured.
