Operation Clean Money
Phase I: 18 lakh persons identified; More than 9.72 lakh taxpayers submitted
online responses for 13.33 lakh accounts involving cash deposits of around Rs
2.89 lakh crore
5.68 lakh new cases
identified for e-verification process
The
Union Minister of Finance, Shri Arun Jaitley, officially launched the Portal of
Operation Clean Money (https://www.cleanmoney.gov.in) in New
Delhi today in the presence of senior officers of the Ministry of Finance,
Department of Revenue and the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
The
Operation Clean Money was initiated by the Income Tax Department (ITD) on the
31st January, 2017 with the launch of e-verification of large cash deposits
made during 9th November to 30th December 2016. In the first phase, around 18
lakh persons were identified in whose case, cash transactions did not
appear in line with the tax payer’s profile. There has been an encouraging
response to the online verification process and more than 9.72 lakh
taxpayers submitted their response without visiting Income tax office up to
12th May, 2017. These taxpayers have provided response for 13.33
lakh accounts involving cash deposits of around Rs. 2.89 lakh crore.
The online responses have been assessed and no further action will be taken in
cases of satisfactory explanation.
The
salient features of the Operation Clean Money Portal launched today are:
·
Providing comprehensive
information at one place
consisting of Step by Step Guides, Frequently asked
Questions, User Guides, Quick Reference Guides and Training Toolkits related to
verification process and other issues.
·
Enabling Citizen Engagement for creating a tax compliant society where every Indian takes pride in paying taxes. Citizens would be able to support the Operation Clean Money
by taking pledge, contribute by engaging and educating
fellow citizens, and share their experiences and provide feedback.
·
Enabling Transparent Tax
Administration by sharing status reports
(including sanitized cases and explanation of verification issues) and thematic
analysis reports (e.g. taxpayer segment analysis of cash deposit data).
The
ITD on-boarded two specialised data analytics agencies and a business process
management agency to augment departmental capability in analyzing large volumes
of cash deposit data, track the compliance status of taxpayers and reporting
entities.
In
Phase II of Operation Clean Money, the high risk cases will be handled
by selecting appropriate enforcement action (verification, search, survey,
scrutiny). A targeted campaign will be initiated in cases with identified risk
issues. The key components of the targeted campaign are:
- Communication
of specific issue through digital channels (Email, SMS etc.)
- Providing
detailed explanation to create environment of transparency
- Sharing
investigation findings for specific segments (e.g. Jewellers, petrol pump,
traders, property purchasers etc.)
- Centralised
monitoring and gradual escalation of inadequate response cases for enforcement
action
With
the continuous flow of information from various sources including Statement of
Financial Transactions (SFT), the ITD is conducting analysis in conjunction
with previously available/analysed data. Such incremental data analysis has already
led to identification of new cases for e-verification. Furthermore, ITD has
also identified 3.71 lakh new accounts relating to 1.58 lakh
taxpayers who made partial declaration of accounts/amounts in their earlier
responses. In addition to the earlier 18 lakh cases, 5.68 lakh new cases
have been identified for e-verification process.
The
Income Tax Department urges all taxpayers and citizens to actively participate
in Operation Clean Money for a common cause of
building a proud nation, which runs on the strength of the honest taxpayers.
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DSM/VKS