Tax officials to have names of defaulters on a dedicated portal; identification process to be non-intrusive

The Income Tax officials are working on Operation Clean Money-a dedicated portal to investigate tax defaulters.

The portal, which was launched after demonetisation move, will identify tax defaulters with PAN and look into individuals who have deposits or large purchases not in line with declared income.

One of the main aim of the portal is to have minimum involvement.

"We are working on a dedicated portal. This will be for those identified as part of Operation Clean Money,” a top government official aware of the deliberations told ET.”

The Operation Clean Money will also focus on high-risk individuals who made high-value transactions. They will be questioned by the tax department and already, over 60,000 such people have been identified.

As black money crackdown remains of the top priorities of the government, this portal will ensure focused and non-intrusive interaction between tax authorities and suspected evaders.

The Prime Minister was given a detailed presentation on Operation Clean Money and various actions taken by the apex direct taxes body, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

The department has identified about 1.8 million persons through the portal who were contacted through SMSes and emails and asked to explain their deposits, pay tax or declare past undisclosed income through the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana.