People who have not filed ITR but conducted high value transactions during financial year 2017-18 are under the scanner of the income tax department.

The Income Tax department (I-T) has ordered stringent action against individuals who are yet to file income tax return (ITR) for the accounting year 2018-19 (financial year 2017-18).

People who have not filed ITR but conducted high value transactions during financial year 2017-18 are under the scanner of the income tax department.

Such people have been identified through Non-filers Monitoring System (NMS) an analytical tool of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

The Non-filers Monitoring System (NMS) of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) aims to identify and monitor persons who enter into high value transactions and have potential tax liabilities but have still not filed their tax returns, he said.

The Ministry of Finance said on Twitter that people who receive such notices have to reply within 21 days to avoid penalties.

Non-filers are requested to assess their tax liability for AY 2018-19 and file the Income Tax Returns (ITR) or submit online response within 21 days. If the explanation offered is found to be satisfactory, matters will be closed online, said the ministry on Twitter.

While some of the people have already received a notice from the tax department, many more non-filers are expected to receive notices over the next few days. These people will be required to respond to the tax department or file their income tax within the 21 days.

People can either send an online response to show cause of delay or file their returns for the financial year 2017-18.

In the wake of the situation, many who have not filed tax have received the notice but have little clue on how to file the response. Here are the steps you can follow:

File your income tax immediately

Since the intimidation is related to ITR filing for the financial year 2017-18, you first need to ascertain your tax liability and immediately file income tax return to avoid further scrutiny by the tax department.

Respond to the tax notice

Another option you have to respond to the tax notice. The department has enabled e-verification of these non-compliance cases to reduce the compliance cost for taxpayers.

Such taxpayers can now respond to the notices online. The tax department has clearly mentioned that there is no need to visit any income tax office for submitting responses.

Compliance portal

The concerned PAN card holder will have to respond electronically on a separate compliance portal and keep the print out of the submitted response for the purpose of record. Any user can access the User Guide and FAQs under the Resources’ menu on the compliance portal.

Additional information related to case

Taxpayers can access additional information related to their case from the compliance portal which is accessible through the e-filing portal of the income tax department at https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.

Steps to follow

First, log in to the e-filing portal and click on the Compliance Portal link in My Account. You can access the compliance portal directly from https://compliance.insight.gov.in/compliance/login. Here you can check all information related to your case.

If you have already filed the income tax return, upload the same of the e-filing portal. If you have already file ITR, submit the details under Filing income tax return. However, if you cannot file returns it is mandatory to upload a response.