No coercive action against Congress with Lok Sabha polls ahead: I-T dept

The income tax department on Monday, 1 April, told the Supreme Court that it would not take any coercive action against the Congress over the tax demand notices of approximately Rs 3,500 crore, in view of the Lok Sabha elections ahead.

A bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Augustine George Masih recorded the statement of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the I-T department, that no precipitative action would be taken in the prevailing circumstances till the final adjudication of the matter had been completed.

The bench posted the Congress' plea against the tax demand notices for July.

At the outset, Mehta said, "I want to make a statement in this matter. The Congress is a political party and since elections are going on, we are not going to take any coercive action against the party."

The department is not commenting on the merit of the matter and all rights and contentions should be left open, he said.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Congress, appreciated the gesture, terming it "gracious", and said all demand notices were issued in March and earlier, for different years, totalling approximately Rs 3,500 crore.

On Friday, 30 March, the Congress had also received fresh notices from the I-T department, asking it to pay around Rs 1,823 crore, the party noted.

On Sunday, 31 March, the Congress said, it had received further notices raising a tax demand of Rs 1,745 crore for the assessment years 2014–15 to 2016–17. With this latest notice, the I-T department has raised a total demand of Rs 3,567 crore from the party, the Congress had said.

The tax authorities have already withdrawn Rs 135 crore from the party's accounts for a tax demand relating to previous years.

The IT department, in fresh notices, has thus asked the Congress to pay Rs 1,823 crore as tax dues. This is the breakdown:

• Rs 54 crore for FY 1993–94

• Rs 182 crore for FY 2016–17

• Rs 179 crore for FY 2017–18

• Rs 918 crore for FY 2018–19

• Rs 490 crore for FY 2019–20