The income-tax department has launched a campaign against those assessees who deduct tax from various payments they make but don't remit the same into the government treasury, Pradeep Sharma, commissioner of income-tax for tax deducted at source (TDS) said on Monday.

Sharma said the department has begun checking the records of assessees to find out if there is a significant drop in the TDS remitted by them last year and this year. "We have found out non-remittance of Rs 7 crore and have ensured remittance of Rs 4 crore," Sharma said, adding that the amount of payments which are liable for deduction of tax at source is estimated to be around Rs 435 crore.

The I-T office has reinforced the team going into the cases of non-remittance and conducted 90 surveys, out of which 36 were in February alone, Sharma said. "We have issued prosecution notices in 15 cases and the defaulters face heavy penalty and imprisonment up to seven years."

Sharma cited four reasons for TDS remittance defaults non-deduction, short-deduction, non-payment of the deducted amount into the government account and late payment of TDS collected by those making payments to different suppliers and service providers. These include co-operative societies, hospitals and even government offices, he said. Payments such as charges of security agencies, lift maintenance, hiring of taxis, interest on loans, leasing of machinery and equipment are liable for tax deduction at source, he added.

The income-tax Pune region has collected Rs 5,031 from TDS so far this year as against Rs 5,227 last year, Sharma said. The target for this year is Rs 6,300 crore but it is likely to be revised downward given the economic slowdown, he said.