Tax defaulters of over Rs 10 crore beware! Taxmen will publish your names in print media and on department website to get at you.

As part of the drive to maximise recovery of outstanding arrears, Central Board of Direct Taxes has constituted 15 task forces in Mumbai, which accounted 40 per cent of the country's total direct tax collection.

The task forces, to be headed by Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, will take "coercive" actions to improve recovery.

As per IT law, tax defaulters could be punished with rigorous imprisonment upto three years, the Income Tax Department, Mumbai Region, said on Sunday.

"Despite rising tax collection, Income Tax Department is wary of arrear demands which have not come to the government coffers," the IT Department said.

CBDT has directed officers of the IT Department to take all possible coercive action permissible under the Act for recovery of such demands.

Those who are having a tax arrear of Rs 10 crore or more, their names would be posted on the website and published in print media, the Department said.

As part of the coercive action, attachment will be made of movable assets like bank account of debtors and of immovable property and the tax recovery officer will auction properties under attachment.

Assets of partners, directors of defaulter firm, companies will be attached, a release stated here.

Certain transfer of properties, which have been made with an intent to avoid taxes, will be declared as void.

The assessee deemed to be in default have been directed to immediately contact the IT Department to pay the taxes.

The penal and other coercive actions coincide with 45 to 50 per cent growth in direct tax collection in the Mumbai region during the first half of the current fiscal.

The IT Department of Mumbai region has mopped up Rs 40,000 crore in direct taxes in the first half and expected to exceed the budget estimate of Rs 88,000 crore for FYO8.