The Income Tax department is mulling to start an inquiry into alleged discrepancies in filing of tax returns by few Ministers in the Madhya Pradesh Government as being pointed out by an audit report.
Official sources said the Income Tax department has got some documents pertaining to the alleged lapses and was in the process of acquiring others. A report by Accountant General, which acts as distant arm of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), has asked the State Government to clarify about the alleged discrepancies in payment of income tax by few Ministers despite the fact that they got similar pay and allowances.
It has also sought information about the refund of excess amount paid as income tax on behalf of Ministers by the Government. As per rules, the amount refunded on basis of revised Income Tax returns of Ministers has to be deposited in the Government exchequer. A demand in this regard to deposit about Rs 3.24 lakh had been raised against two ministers — Ramkrishna Kusmariya and Ajay Vishnoi, the report has said. The ministers had later paid the amount.
According to rules, the State Government pays income tax on the salary and allowances of ministers. The income tax on earnings from other sources has to be paid by the ministers themselves. The report, which was based on an inspection carried out between February 5 and 14 this year for the period April 2011 and December 2012, was accessed by activist Ajay Dubey exercising his Right to Information (RTI).
Ajay Dubey, who had also lodged a complaint with the Income Tax department, said that it was a serious issue. The IT department must look into it.