Man, Asked To Pay Rs 113 Crore In Tax, Says He Earns Rs 53,000 A Month

A resident of Bhind in Madhya Pradesh with a monthly income of Rs 53,000 got a demand notice from income tax (I-T) department to cough up Rs 113.83 crore for alleged transactions of Rs 132 crore in his account in 2011-12.

According to the I-T department, Bhind resident Ravi Gupta is a promoter of Tiya Traders, a diamond-trading company registered as a firm in Surat and Mumbai. The I-T department also said Mr Gupta has Tax Identification Number (TIN) registration, service tax registration, cheque details of Tiya Traders of RBL Bank and an Axis bank account which had been opened at Malad, Mumbai branch.

However, Mr Gupta said except for PAN copy and his photograph, nothing else belongs to him and that he is a victim of a big fraud racket.

It is learnt that PMO had initiated an inquiry into Ravi Gupta's case after it was first reported by ANI in 2020. Despite this, Mr Gupta has received yet another notice from the income tax department on March 28.

Talking to ANI, Mr Gupta said at first, he received a notice from I-T department in 2019, asking him to pay Rs 3.49 crore in penalties for 2011-12. He said he was then working at a BPO in Indore and earning a monthly salary of only Rs 7,000.

"That time I thought that I-T department has mistakenly sent him notice and asked the department to correct it. But again, when I got notice of Rs 113,83,32,008 I was shocked," he said. For the last five years, Mr +Gupta has been tirelessly approaching central agencies in a desperate attempt to get his name cleared.

He has since filed complaints with the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and is surprised that they have not investigated the matter, despite similar cases coming to light, he said.

According to Mr Gupta, CBI Bhopal office has forwarded his complaint to Economic Offence Wing (EoW) Gwalior, and said, "I believe that EoW is investigating this matter." Gupta said that though the investigation is on by EoW, income tax department has again last week issued a demand notice, leaving him no choices but to appeal against the notice.

"These notices are no less than mental harassment for me. There may be many others like me. I don't know when and where this will stop," Mr Gupta said.

Two of his colleagues from the same BPO -- Kapil Shukla and Khandwa's Praveen Rathore -- have received similar I-T notices for 2011-12."

The notice said, "If you do not pay the amount of the tax within the period specified above, penalty (which may be as much as the amount of tax in arrear) may be imposed upon you after giving you a reasonable opportunity of being heard in accordance with Section 221."

It further said, "If you intend to appeal against the assessment, you may present an appeal under Part A of Chapter XX of the Income-Tax Act, 1961, to the NATIONAL FACELESS APPEAL CENTRE (NFAC) within thirty days of the receipt of this notice, in Form No. 35, duly stamped and verified as laid down in that form."
 

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