PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
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FINANCE MINISTER ASKS OFFICERS OF INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT TO
MAXIMISE THE USE OF NON INTRUSIVE AND INNOVATIVE METHODS OF
INVESTIGATION; CALLS FOR TRAINING FOR UPGRADATION OF SKILLS AND
NEED FOR CAPACITY BUILDING
New Delhi, July 23, 2014
Shravana 1, 1936
The Union Finance Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley exhorted the officers of the Income
Tax Department to maximize the use of innovative and non-intrusive methods of
investigation. He impressed upon the need for skill development and up-gradation to keep
pace with newer and innovative methodologies adopted to evade taxes. The Finance
Minister Shri Jaitley emphasized that the Department should equip itself with the State of
the Art technological skills, including, in the area of analysis of digital evidence. The
Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley was addressing the meeting of Directors General of
Income Tax (Investigation and Intelligence & Criminal Investigation) and Chief
Commissioners of Income-Tax (Central) here today. The Finance Minister observed that
the quality of representation of cases of Income Tax Department before various courts of
law needs to be improved. He stressed upon devising mechanisms to attract the best
talent and build expertise in the specialized subject of taxation. The Finance Minister Shri
Jaitley also impressed upon the need of imparting training to the middle level officers in
order to improve their forensic skills to successfully deal with new tools of technology
being used for tax evasions. The Finance Minister also called for taking necessary steps
to adopt the emerging methods of capacity building.
The meeting was attended along with the Finance Minister by Shri Shaktikanta
Das, Revenue Secretary, Chairman and Member (Investigation) CBDT, Directors General
of Income Tax (Investigation and Intelligence & Criminal Investigation) of different
Regions and Chief Commissioners of Income-Tax (Central) along with other senior
officers of the CBDT among others.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Shantikanta Das, Revenue Secretary appreciated
the sensitivity of the tasks assigned to the Investigation Directorates and advised the
officers to be firm and fair in their approach towards the tax payers.
Earlier Shri K.V. Chowdary, Member (Investigation), CBDT, highlighted the
performance of the Investigation Directorates in Financial Year 2013-14 in the major
areas of their functioning including, inter-alia, search and seizure operations, surveys,
widening and deepening of tax base, action on intelligence inputs received from other
agencies of the Government. During the year 2013-14, searches conducted by the
Income-tax Department led to seizure of assets worth Rs. 807.84 crore and admission of
undisclosed income u/s 132(4) of IT Act, 1961 of Rs. 10,791.63 crore. The number of
prosecutions launched during the year 2013-14 was 641, which is an increase of 127% in
comparison to the immediately preceding year. The success rate in convictions on
prosecutions launched by the Department is 90.6% (including 561 cases compounded by
the Department). During the year 2013-14, the Department in its efforts to widen and
deepen the tax base, undertook new projects for the collection and analysis of data from
Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) and Cooperative Credit Societies (CCSs), Companies
who have made open offers for the acquisition of shares and banks. The analysis of data
resulted in identifying large number of new tax payers and additional incomes in the
cases of existing tax payers. The amounts in these categories are income of Rs 4,442
crore in the case of UCBs/CCSs, Sale consideration of Rs 1743.91 crore in the case of
the Project on Open offer where returns were not filed and income of Rs 1,383 crore in
the case of Project on Banks etc.
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