New Delhi: A court recently convicted and sentenced a woman to six months in jail for not filing an income tax return (ITR) on an income of ₹2 crore.
The court of additional chief metropolitan magistrate Mayank Mittal sentenced the woman Savitri, after hearing submissions and considering the facts of the case.
“The convict is awarded a sentence of simple imprisonment for six months with a fine of ₹5000 and in default to undergo undergo simple imprisonment for one month,” the judge said in the order dated March 4. However, the court granted her 30 days’ bail to challenge the order after considering her application. The case pertains to a complaint filed by the Income tax Office (ITO), alleging that a tax deducted at source (TDS) amounting to ₹2 lakh was deducted against the receipt Of ₹2 crore made by the accused during the financial year 2013-14. However, no return of income for the assessment year 2014-15 was filed by the assessee or accused. Special public prosecutor Arpit Batra submitted before the court that the purpose of the provision was deterrence among the persons liable to pay the tax to file their return of income in time and to pay the tax accordingly. He also submitted that a maximum amount of imprisonment should be awarded to the convict and a substantial amount of fine should also be imposed. According to the prosecution, a letter on Sept 11,2017, was issued by ITO to the convict for verification of data on whether an ITR was filed for the assessment year 2014-15 or not. The accused failed to file a reply. Later, a notice dated Jan 10, 2018, was issued to the accused with directions to furnish the return of the assessment year 2014-15. Again, no compliance was made by the assessee or accused.
