Tax investigators have issued an intimation notice to approximately 22,000 tax payers for the assessment period of 2023 to 24, including Salaried Individuals, High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs), Trusts, and HUFs, due to a discrepancy between the deductions declared in their tax return and the information contained therein in Form 16 or an AIS.

The intimation notices are issued in respect of the tax returns submitted for the assessment period (AY) for the fiscal year (2023-24) and were all sent within the preceding 15 days.

Of the 20,000 notices sent out, informal notices were sent to a total of 8,000 taxpayers filing tax returns under HUF status, where the discrepancy between the income declared and the information held by the Department of Information Technology (IT) exceeded ₹ 50 lakh. Of these, 900 HNIs had a disparity of ₹ 5 crore or more, and 1,200 Trusts and Partnership firms had a disparity of more than ₹ 10 crore. The purpose of these notices was to address and correct the discrepancies in the tax declaration of these taxpayers.

Around 12,000 were for salaried people whose tax deductions didn’t match up with the department’s records. The difference between their tax deductions and the department’s records was over 50,000 rupees.

The primary data analytics has also looked at the tax returns of around 2,000 taxpayers and found discrepancies in their income declarations, expenses, or bank account info. This is part of the IT department’s work to make sure everyone is tax compliant and financial reporting is accurate.

Income tax department officials informed the financial daily that this is the initial intimation notice. If taxpayers do not respond or provide any additional information, a demand notice will be issued. Taxpayers who have been notified of discrepancies in their returns have a range of options available to them, including paying the remaining tax and any applicable interest by submitting an updated and corrected return. Alternatively, they may provide a comprehensive explanation for the discrepancies.

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