Latest news with #Income-Tax
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Business Standard
22-07-2025
- Business Standard
Tax refund scam alert: Don't fall for that 'manual verification' email
Government warns taxpayers about phishing attempts to gather their financial information An email falsely claiming to be from the Income-Tax department is attempting to dupe taxpayers by asking them to 'manually verify' attached documents or click links so that they can get refunds. The Fact Check Unit of the government's Press Information Bureau (PIB) has flagged such emails as fraudulent and urged citizens to exercise caution. Fake email The phishing email, designed to mimic the tax department's communication, typically reads: "Dear Taxpayer, This is an official notification regarding your Income Tax Refund for Assessment Year 2024-25. Amount eligible: Rs 60,000…all refunds above Rs 25,000 require recipient confirmation to prevent unauthorised payouts and protect taxpayers." It then prompts recipients to click on a link or fill in their financial information. According to PIB, the email is a malicious attempt to steal personal and financial data, including bank account numbers, passwords and credit card information. How to identify phishing attempt The Income-Tax department has said it never asks for personal financial information like PIN numbers or passwords. Here are red flags to watch out for: Email asking for personal or banking information. Poor grammar, unusual formatting, or suspicious domain names in the sender's address. Links that redirect to websites resembling official portals but with slight changes in spelling or design. Attachments that you didn't expect to receive. What should you do if you receive such an email? PIB advises the following steps: 1. Do not reply to the email. 2. Do not click on any links or download attachments, as these may contain malware. 3. Do not enter any personal or financial information. 4. Forward the suspicious email to webmanager@ and incident@ for further investigation.
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Business Standard
14-07-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Robert Vadra appears before ED in Sanjay Bhandari money laundering case
Robert Vadra, the businessman husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, appeared before the Enforcement Directorate on Monday for his questioning in connection with the UK-based arms consultant Sanjay Bhandari linked money laundering case, official sources said. The businessman's statement will be recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. The 56-year-old Vadra was called by the agency to depose last month but he had sought deferment of his summons as he had to travel abroad. He is being investigated by the central probe agency in three different money laundering cases, including this one. The two others pertain to alleged irregularities in land deals. The 63-year-old Bhandari fled to London in 2016 soon after the Income-Tax department raided him in Delhi. He was recently declared a fugitive economic offender by a Delhi court. A UK court last month refused the Indian government's application seeking permission to appeal in Britain's Supreme Court against the discharge of Bhandari in an extradition case against him, virtually ruling out chances of his being brought to the country to face the law. The ED had filed a chargesheet in this case in 2023 alleging Bhandari "acquired" the 12, Bryanston Square house located in London in 2009 and got it renovated "as per the directions of Vadra and the funds for renovation were provided by Robert Vadra." Vadra has denied that he owned any London property directly or indirectly. Terming these charges as a political witch hunt against him, he has said that he was being "hounded and harassed" to subserve political ends. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Business Standard
18-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Undisclosed crypto income: Respond to taxman's notice, file revised return
Underreporting or misreporting crypto income can lead to penalties ranging from 50 to 200%, even imprisonment of up to seven years Himali Patel Listen to This Article The Income-Tax (I-T) Department has detected widespread tax evasion involving cryptocurrencies and, according to media reports, has issued emails to thousands of defaulting taxpayers seeking transaction details. Investors must understand the tax rules governing crypto assets and respond promptly to these emails. How evasion is detected The department gathers data on cryptocurrency activity from several sources. 'Reporting agencies such as cryptocurrency exchanges and banks are obligated to report transactions through the Statement of Financial Transactions (SFT) to the tax department. Since July 1, 2022, TDS deduction is applicable on crypto transfers, which serves as a direct reporting to the I-T
Economic Times
30-04-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Taxman invokes benami law to get data from payment gateways
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Income-Tax (I-T) Department has invoked the benami law to fish out information from a few payment gateway (PG) least two firms have been told to disclose the identities of persons linked to a string of United Payment Interface (UPI) IDs, the entities who received money, and details like transaction date, amounts, and bank account offer a network for customers to send money to businesses and merchants. Shell companies posing as merchants sometimes register themselves with PGs to move tax office, probably based on feedback it has received, would verify whether some merchants are holding money on behalf of others; or, if sham merchants are helping fund remitters book bogus expenses to evade tax. Here, the receiver later returns the funds in cash to the notices were issued under Section 23 of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988."Tax authorities appear to be using the wider powers under Section 23. Unlike the I-T Act, seeking information under this needs not be linked to any open or pending proceeding. The data can be used to conduct any investigation though with prior approval of the additional or joint commissioner. So, receivers of such notices should comply without fail," said Rahul Garg, managing partner of Asire Consulting, which advises MNCs on tax and regulatory the I-T returns of recipients do not reflect the amounts, the department could probe whether they are fronts for others. A benami deal is a transaction or an arrangement where a property or assets like stocks or funds is "transferred" to or is "held" by a person but the consideration of such property has been provided or paid by another person. In other words, the holder of the asset (the front) is not its true beneficial it's mandatory for PGs, regulated by RBI, to do know-your-customer (KYC) formalities before registering merchants, they could be asked to explain if there are KYC lapses."Section 23 enquiry can be initiated based on any material or information that may arise from various sources, including tax departments, RBI, the Enforcement Directorate or other government agencies. If the evaluation suggests the likelihood of a benami transaction, the IO may issue a notice under Section 24 seeking an explanation," said Ashish Karundia, founder of CA firm Ashish Karundia & to advocate and former ITAT member Ashwani Taneja, "In regard to payments made through PGs, if there is a proper, open, and well-documented agreement between the two entities-where one officially receives payments on behalf of the other and acts only as a payment aggregator/payment gateway, and this arrangement is declared to relevant government departments, it would be legally wrong to call it a benami transaction. However, if the setup is informal and tacit, especially where the real people behind the businesses are hidden, then a benami arrangement could be suspected. Also, when the people running the business are different from those whose names and KYC documents are officially recorded." He said it would not be fair to hold PGs responsible for transactions done by unknown third parties which are not under their control.
Time of India
30-04-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Taxman invokes benami law to get data from payment gateways
The Income-Tax (I-T) Department has invoked the benami law to fish out information from a few payment gateway (PG) companies. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack A Chinese shadow falls on Pahalgam terror attack case probe How India can use water to pressure Pakistan Buzzkill: How India can dissolve the Pakistan problem, not just swat it At least two firms have been told to disclose the identities of persons linked to a string of United Payment Interface (UPI) IDs, the entities who received money, and details like transaction date, amounts, and bank account numbers. Gateways offer a network for customers to send money to businesses and merchants. Shell companies posing as merchants sometimes register themselves with PGs to move money. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Discover how to go from draft to done in a few clicks—not a few hours. Grammarly Install Now Undo The tax office, probably based on feedback it has received, would verify whether some merchants are holding money on behalf of others; or, if sham merchants are helping fund remitters book bogus expenses to evade tax. Here, the receiver later returns the funds in cash to the sender. Live Events The notices were issued under Section 23 of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988. "Tax authorities appear to be using the wider powers under Section 23. Unlike the I-T Act, seeking information under this needs not be linked to any open or pending proceeding. The data can be used to conduct any investigation though with prior approval of the additional or joint commissioner. So, receivers of such notices should comply without fail," said Rahul Garg, managing partner of Asire Consulting, which advises MNCs on tax and regulatory matters. If the I-T returns of recipients do not reflect the amounts, the department could probe whether they are fronts for others. A benami deal is a transaction or an arrangement where a property or assets like stocks or funds is "transferred" to or is "held" by a person but the consideration of such property has been provided or paid by another person. In other words, the holder of the asset (the front) is not its true beneficial owner. Since it's mandatory for PGs, regulated by RBI, to do know-your-customer (KYC) formalities before registering merchants, they could be asked to explain if there are KYC lapses. "Section 23 enquiry can be initiated based on any material or information that may arise from various sources, including tax departments, RBI, the Enforcement Directorate or other government agencies. If the evaluation suggests the likelihood of a benami transaction, the IO may issue a notice under Section 24 seeking an explanation," said Ashish Karundia, founder of CA firm Ashish Karundia & Co. According to advocate and former ITAT member Ashwani Taneja, "In regard to payments made through PGs, if there is a proper, open, and well-documented agreement between the two entities-where one officially receives payments on behalf of the other and acts only as a payment aggregator/payment gateway, and this arrangement is declared to relevant government departments, it would be legally wrong to call it a benami transaction. However, if the setup is informal and tacit, especially where the real people behind the businesses are hidden, then a benami arrangement could be suspected. Also, when the people running the business are different from those whose names and KYC documents are officially recorded." He said it would not be fair to hold PGs responsible for transactions done by unknown third parties which are not under their control.
