According to sources, the Income Tax Department has issued a notice of Rs 1,700 crore to the Congress party, one day after the Delhi High Court rejected the party’s petition contesting the tax notices.
The fresh notice is for assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21 and includes penalty and interest, sources said.
In February, the I-T department had found fault in the party’s tax returns and demanded Rs 200 crore. The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) had asked the party to pay the dues and froze their accounts.
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Tax Tribunal’s Order and Electoral Funding
The Congress said the tax tribunal’s order freezing its funds was “an attack on democracy” as the order came just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
On Thursday, the Delhi High Court rejected petitions by the Congress challenging the initiation of tax reassessment proceedings against it for a period of four years.
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Funding for political parties is becoming a central issue in this election, particularly after the Supreme Court struck down electoral bonds – which allow individuals and/or businesses to make anonymous donations to political parties – on grounds it violated citizens’ right to information.
The Congress and other opposition parties welcomed the verdict, which scrapped a scheme that had benefitted the BJP the most.
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