Setback for Congress: I-T department sends notice for 2014-15 to 2016-17, total demand reaches Rs 3,567 crore

In a setback for the grand old Congress party, the Income Tax Department on Saturday sent fresh notices for the assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17 and raised demands of Rs 1,745 crore.

These notices with the notice for assessment years 1994-95 and 2017-18 to 2020-21 takes the total demand by the I-T department to Rs 3,567 crore. The fresh notices for the assessment years 2014-15 to 2016-17 were received on Friday evening after the party attacked the BJP, accusing it of trying to "cripple the process of democracy" ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. 

The Congress party on Friday said at a press conference that it received notices for 5 years (Assessment Year 1994-95 and Assessment Years 2017-18 to 2020-21) from the Income Tax demanding Rs 1,823 crore. The grand old party's net worth is around Rs 1,430 crore, as per media reports. 

Not only this, the Congress was also served a notice of Rs 1,800 crore by the I-T Department, including penalty and interest for AYs 2017-18 to 2020-21. This notice came after the Delhi High Court rejected Congress' pleas against tax reassessment proceedings by the I-T department. 

The Delhi HC bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said the pleas were rejected in keeping with its earlier decision refusing to interfere with the opening of the re-assessment for another year. 

After the Delhi HC verdict, Rajya Sabha MP and lawyer Vivek Tankha, who handles the party's litigation said on X (formerly Twitter): "BJP must thank and felicitate select officers of the Revenue Dept for their studious and loyal adherence to the BJP's mission of 'Congress Mukta Bharat'. But they have misjudged the intelligence and gravitas of people of India. Indian electorate has never supported autocratic conduct. No democracy possible sans opposition parties."

Commenting on the notices by the I-T Department, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said: "This shows the mindset that the Prime Minister wants to cripple opposition parties politically and financially." 

Moreover, in its latest income tax return for AY 2023-24, the Congress party reported a total corpus of Rs 657 crore, net assets of around Rs 340 crore and cash equivalents of Rs 388 crore, totaling to around Rs 1,430 crore. 

The action comes after the I-T Department claimed that it recovered "incriminating material" during raids on two corporates in 2019, which revealed cash payments to the Congress party worth around Rs 520 crore.

The Income Tax Department has said the Congress cannot claim exemption from paying income tax under Section 13 (A) of the Income Tax Act due to violations of the provisions. The Income Tax Department has recovered Rs 135 crore from Congress bank accounts for violations in IT returns for the assessment year 2018-19. 

Meanwhile, the grand old party is planning to approach the Supreme Court to halt the actions of the I-T department against its accounts. They received demand notices for several financial years, including the highest for the year 2018-19, which coincided with the Lok Sabha elections, wherein a demand of Rs 918 crore has been raised.