NEW DELHI: Justifying the income tax notices issued to the Congress, finance ministry sources said the tax department had reopened assessments of the party for seven years (from AY 2014-15 to AY 2020-21) on the basis of incriminating material seized during search operations conducted in April 2019.Two Delhi High Court orders, dated 22 March and 28 March 2024, allowed the reassessment. “Notices under Section 153C of Income Tax Act were issued in March 2023. The assessment proceedings for these seven years were getting time-barred on 31 March 2024 as per law,” said a senior official.The Congress had approached the HC for quashing of reassessment under Section 153C for all the seven years but it dismissed the writs. The HC in its order observed that there was an evasion of Rs 520 crore income. “In its order, the HC held that the tax department has substantial and concrete evidence warranting further scrutiny under the IT Act. The HC further observed that the satisfaction note details the unaccounted transactions with reference to various elections,” the source said.Another official told TNIE that sufficient time was given to the party to reply, especially on various observations of the HC. “After considering all the replies, the department has now completed the assessment.”In an issue pertaining to AY 2018-19, the Congress faced the withdrawal of exemption under Section 13A of the IT Act . Despite multiple communications and rejection of stay applications, the party failed to comply with the tax demand.CPI gets tax notice for Rs 11 crore dues The CPI has received a notice from the income tax department demanding Rs 11 cr ‘dues’ for using an old PAN card while filing tax returns during the last few years. The amount includes penalties and interest due to “discrepancies” in the use of an old PAN card. Besides, TMC’s Saket Gokhale got 11 I-T notices in the last 72 hours
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