After Congress, Left Parties Get Notice From Income Tax Department: All About It

After the Income Tax Department recently served a notice of approximately Rs 1,700 crore to the Congress party, the Communist Party of India (CPI) has found itself entangled in a legal battle with the I-T department after two of its state units were discovered using outdated Permanent Account Number (PAN) cards for filing income tax returns.

As reported by The Hindu, the department has demanded dues amounting to Rs 11 crore from the CPI, although a senior party leader mentioned that the notice did not specify any particular sum.

The party is currently consulting its legal advisors to contest the notice.

This development comes in the wake of a similar action taken against the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) in July 2022, when the Income Tax department withdrew the tax exemption of the CPI(M) for the fiscal year 2016-17.

The Left party was levied a tax of Rs 15.59 crore for allegedly failing to declare a bank account in its tax returns for the said year.

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As per reports, the CPI(M) received a notice under Section 148A of the Income Tax Act for the assessment year 2016-17, citing non-disclosure of a maintained bank account in its tax filings.

Despite the party's submissions and claims of oversight, the department proceeded to reopen the case and issued a final order imposing the tax penalty.

Moreover, the CPI(M) faced further scrutiny when the Income Tax department proposed to disallow the claim of exemption under Section 13A of the Act.

Despite the party's request for an extension of time, the request was denied, leading to the issuance of a final order levying a tax of Rs 15.59 crore for the year 2016-17.

In response to these actions, the CPI(M) has filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court challenging the order.

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