Do Explain: 13 Lakh People Get SMSes, Emails For Deposits After Notes Ban

New Delhi: Emails and text messages have been sent today to the majority of 18 lakh people identified for making suspicious and large cash deposits after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's sudden abolition of high-value notes.

Tax officials today said that messages have been sent to 13 lakh people who are being scrutinized for possible tax evasion in the government's crackdown on black money. The others will receive their "please explain" notice tomorrow, said Sushil Chandra, who heads the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

18 lakh accounts have "unaccounted cash of 4.7 lakh crores," he said, which means that the declared income of those account holders does not match their deposits.

The tax department said earlier this week that the first phase of "Operation Clean Money" had flagged 18 lakh account holders whose large cash deposits were suspect. Data analytics and taxpayer profiling is being used to identify problem cases, officials have said, with focus on deposits above five lakhs per account.

Mr Chandra has said people have 10 days to respond to their notices and can provide their answers online.

On November 8, the PM stunned the country when he announced that at midnight, high-denomination notes would be illegal for transactions. He said the demonetization drive will uncover corruption and tax evasion.

People were given till the end of December to return or exchange the banned 500- and 1,000-rupee notes. Deposits over 2.5 lakhs would have to be explained and taxed, the government said, warning that those whose deposits were suspicious would be singled out for investigation, while an amnesty scheme enables the declaration of any hidden wealth with payment of a stiff penalty.