NEW DELHI: The income-tax (I-T) department on took to the strategy of ‘naming and shaming’ some large tax defaulters as it published names of 18 entities who owe over 500 crore tax to the exchequer. “The step is aimed to publicize and put these names in public domain so that the common man can come forward to help the department in knowing the whereabouts of these.

The step is to enhance public awareness against these entities who are acting against law. These names were earlier were put up on the department’s website,” a senior I-T officer said. Newspapers on Tuesday carried the names of the tax defaulters and the data was quoted to have been published by the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax (Administration) based in the national capital.

Adopting an aggressive approach, government had for the first time gone public with 18 names, including Goldsukh Trade and Somani Cements, which have turned wilful defaulters, according to the I-T department. In a bid to force these entities to pay their dues, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) had asked the I-T department to post on its website, a few days back, the names of these 18 defaulters, of whom 11 are based in Gujarat.

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“Defaulters are advised to pay tax arrears immediately,” said the notice. “This is the first time the department has put in public domain a list of those wilful tax defaulters who have a tax liability of 10 crore and above,” a senior tax official had said, adding that in many cases, the assessees were not “traceable”.

“The department, in the public notice, has provided the PAN number and the last known address of these defaulters for the public to know,” the official added. The official said the department has been periodically proposing “naming and shaming” of wilful defaulters and the step has now been taken on the last day of the current fiscal year on Tuesday.

The companies in the list include Somani Cement with tax arrears of 27.47 crore, Blue Information Technology (75.11 crore), Appletech Solutions (27.07 crore), Jupiter Business (21.31 crore) and Hirak Biotech (18.54 crore).

The other Gujarat-based companies which figured in the defaulters list include Icon Bio Pharma and Healthcare Ltd (17.69 crore), Banyan and Berry Alloys (17.48 crore), Laxminarayan T Thakkar (12.49 crore), Virag Dyeing and Printing (18.57 crore), Poonam Industries (15.84 crore), Kunvar Ajay Food Pvt. Ltd (15 crore). Names of Jaipur-based Goldsukh Trade India (75.47 crore), Kolkata-based Victor Credit and Construction (13.81 crore), Mumbai-based Noble Merchandise (11.93 crore) are also there in the list. The list also names legal heir of Pune-based GK Dharne involving a tax default of 38.31 crore.

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