I-T non-filers may get blacklisted

The government is preparing to bring in a law under which non-filers of income tax returns may get blacklisted.

The government had extended the date for filing income tax returns from July 31 to August 31. In case one misses the last date of August 31, there is time till December with a penalty of Rs 5,000 and till March next year with a sum of Rs 10,000.

As of now, the law does not provide for any stringent penalty for non-filers except that they cannot apply for loans, tenders and cannot get education loan for children or startup funding. However, the government is planning to get tougher with the aim of bringing all those who are eligible to file taxes into the tax net, an official said.

“This will not only increase the government's tax revenue but also provide important data of employment in the unorganised sector,” the official told DH. He said I-T laws may be amended in due course to blacklist such people.

The official said demonetisation was one such move to bring more such people under the tax net, but as cash use has started increasing, once again a bunch of new private practitioners and business owners has emerged who need to be brought into the tax net.

With sustained efforts, the number of new income tax filers increased to 99.49 lakh last year, which is 16.3% more than the 85.52 lakh in the previous year.

The fate of those blacklisted for not paying tax is not known, but they may be de-barred from availing certain benefits of government schemes.