I-T dept to share PAN info

The department, after getting approval from the Central Board of Direct Taxes, has, however, stopped short of sharing the “sensitive” and “highly sensitive” database of taxpayers and entities related to financial transactions and investigations.

The I-T department has developed and created two high-end data mining tools for the use of its investigation and intelligence wings, called “360-degree” profiling and the computer-assisted scrutiny system (CASS). The department has also created two forensic laboratories to decipher and work on sensitive data related to cross-border transactions, high value tax evasion.

The labs have been developed with the help of the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing. Sources said the PAN card database will be shared only after specific requests from any of the law enforcement agencies for purposes of probe and  intelligence sharing. In the first phase, the ministry plans to connect 10 user agencies and 21 service providers in 26 months.