Yet to be taxed, Rs 68,000 crore in Kerala's cooperative banks
Shaju Philip
Tags : Income Tax Dept, Commercial banks, banking sector, nation news
Posted: Tue Nov 29 2011, 00:05 hrs
Thiruvananthapuram:
It's not just banks abroad that are proving tax havens to stash money in. In Kerala, the Income Tax Department has not yet managed to bring Rs 68,000 crore, deposited in the state's s co-operative banking sector, under its net on account of stiff resistance from politicians leading to a Supreme Court stay.
Commercial banks are exposed to the Income Tax Department's drive to get details on accounts and customers; the co-operative banks, managed by politicians, have so far managed to evade it. As per Section 133(6) of the Income Tax Act, the department is free to ask for details of depositors whose accounts have over Rs 2 lakh.
An I-T effort to unlock the co-operative accounts in Kerala began in 2009 after it detected that a large chunk of unaccounted money was stashed in the cooperative sector, virtually a tax-free zone. However, the drive was suspended following a SC stay in February 2010. Fifty-six primary co-operative banks had rushed to the SC after the High Court rejected their petitions, saying co-operative banks could not challenge Section 133(6) of the Act. The I-T department has moved the SC for getting the stay lifted.
Last month, a delegation of CPM and Congress leaders from Kerala met Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee after the I-T Department issued fresh notices to the co-operative banks to submit returns as per Section 142 of the Act.
CPM leader and president of the State Co-operative Bank M Mehaboob said the party's stand against black money hoarded in foreign countries is different from that on money deposited in Kerala's co-operative banks. "We cannot allow the I-T department to examine the accounts in co-operative banks. The I-T department has been targeting state co-operative sector with a malicious intent... We have our own system in place to check flow of unaccounted money into co-operative banks," said Mehaboob. He added the department's attempt to tax these banks and their customers will upset depositors. More than 60 per cent of deposits belong to pensioners, he said.
Shaju Philip
Tags : Income Tax Dept, Commercial banks, banking sector, nation news
Posted: Tue Nov 29 2011, 00:05 hrs
Thiruvananthapuram:
It's not just banks abroad that are proving tax havens to stash money in. In Kerala, the Income Tax Department has not yet managed to bring Rs 68,000 crore, deposited in the state's s co-operative banking sector, under its net on account of stiff resistance from politicians leading to a Supreme Court stay.
Commercial banks are exposed to the Income Tax Department's drive to get details on accounts and customers; the co-operative banks, managed by politicians, have so far managed to evade it. As per Section 133(6) of the Income Tax Act, the department is free to ask for details of depositors whose accounts have over Rs 2 lakh.
An I-T effort to unlock the co-operative accounts in Kerala began in 2009 after it detected that a large chunk of unaccounted money was stashed in the cooperative sector, virtually a tax-free zone. However, the drive was suspended following a SC stay in February 2010. Fifty-six primary co-operative banks had rushed to the SC after the High Court rejected their petitions, saying co-operative banks could not challenge Section 133(6) of the Act. The I-T department has moved the SC for getting the stay lifted.
Last month, a delegation of CPM and Congress leaders from Kerala met Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee after the I-T Department issued fresh notices to the co-operative banks to submit returns as per Section 142 of the Act.
CPM leader and president of the State Co-operative Bank M Mehaboob said the party's stand against black money hoarded in foreign countries is different from that on money deposited in Kerala's co-operative banks. "We cannot allow the I-T department to examine the accounts in co-operative banks. The I-T department has been targeting state co-operative sector with a malicious intent... We have our own system in place to check flow of unaccounted money into co-operative banks," said Mehaboob. He added the department's attempt to tax these banks and their customers will upset depositors. More than 60 per cent of deposits belong to pensioners, he said.
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